Charity in Truth: Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict appeals for less greed and more soul

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Pope Benedict wants a fundamental shift in attitude

In the third encyclical of his papacy, Pope Benedict has appealed to the leaders of the world’s wealthier nations not to ignore the needs of the poor in the face of the global economic crisis.

Published on the eve of the L’Aguila G-8 summit scheduled to focus on the global economy, climate change and aid for developing nations, “Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth)  says that poorer countries should be given “an effective voice in shared decision making.”

The encyclical says the “primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his and her integrity.”

The 82-year-old Pope Benedict used the document, which is his first encyclical on social issues, as a platform to denounce what he sees as the unjust nature of globalised capitalism, and to call for “greater social responsibility.”

He urged fairer trade practices, citing outsourcing to countries where labour is cheaper, as bad business which could “weaken the company’s sense of responsibility to the workers, the suppliers, the consumers, the natural environment.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The encyclical says more has to be done to eradicate hunger

World body with “real teeth”

Furthermore, the pontiff stressed the need for a reform of the United Nations and economic and financial institutions in order to lend some “real teeth” to the idea of a family of nations.

He said there was an urgent need to establish a true world political authority in order to “manage the global economy, revive economies hit by the crisis, to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis.”

Such a body, he wrote could work “to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace, to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration´.”

The 144-page letter sharply criticised “badly managed and largely speculative financial dealing,” and said the world was now in the thick of a greed-induced depression.

Yet for all of the ills the global economic crisis has visited on millions of people across the world, Pope Benedict said it also offered an opportunity to “replan our journey, set ourselves new rules, and to discover new forms of commitment.”

Message applauded by German bishops

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Arch bishop Robert Zollitsch has welcomed the encyclical

The encyclical, which the Pope began writing in 2007 but held off publishing in order to reflect the current economic climate, has been welcomed by German bishops.

Speaking in the southern city of Freiburg on Tuesday, the chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Robert Zollitsch, described the encyclical as a “great piece of work”, which embodies the basic conditions for humane and dignified development.

He said Pope Benedict had made a significant contribution to the current debate on globalisation and justice, and added that the timing of the publication highlighted “the urgency of the issue”.

Zollitsch praised the pontiff for appealing to industrialized nations to implement good ethical practises and encouraging individuals to see themselves as contributors to the current global developments rather than victims thereof.

“Everyone needs to have a rethink,” he said.

tkw/AFP/dpa/AP/Reuters

Editor: Chuck Penfold

Pope condemns capitalism’s ‘failures’

By Guy Dinmore in Rome

Published: July 7 2009 14:14 | Last updated: July 7 2009 14:14

Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday condemned the “grave deviations and failures” of capitalism exposed by the financial crisis and issued a strong call for a “true world political authority” to oversee a return to ethics in the global economy.

The pontiff’s call for stronger government regulation was made in his third and eagerly awaited encyclical, Charity in Truth, which the Vatican chose to issue on the eve of the G8 summit of rich nations being held in Italy.

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His attack on unbridled capitalism and unregulated market forces was also accompanied by a strong critique of some international aid agencies, which he accused of encouraging abortion, sterilisation and imposing contraception. The pontiff, elected to the papacy in 2005, stirred controversy on his first visit to Africa in March when he said that use of condoms exacerbated the Aids crisis.

While the pontiff’s call for a new political authority is unlikely to go down well with the G8 heads of government, his plea for financiers in particular to refocus on ethics will be reflected in a G8 communiqué bearing the imprint of Italy and Germany in their push for stronger and more co-ordinated “global standards”.

In common with some of the more regulatory-minded members of the G8, the pope does not reject globalisation outright but seeks more forceful implementation of common rules and standards.

Pope Benedict’s emphasis on the need for “forms of redistribution of wealth” is also likely to fuel the debate at the summit – to be attended by 39 heads of government and international institutions – over the failure of several rich nations, most notably Italy and France, to honour past aid commitments.

Vatican observers noted that the timing of the encyclical, the most important transmission of papal teaching on key issues, demonstrated the readiness of Pope Benedict to intervene directly in political developments. Within Italy, the interventionist pontiff has been attacked by secularists for what they see as his unwarranted interference in domestic Italian affairs.

The German-born pope said the “true world political authority” would have the duty to “manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result”.

It would be ”regulated by law” and ”would need to be universally recognised and to be vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice, and respect for rights”.

Enterprises needed a profoundly new way of understanding business that would respect the dignity of workers and foster the “common good by prioritising ethics and social responsibility over dividend returns”.

”Today’s international economic scene, marked by grave deviations and failures, requires a profoundly new way of understanding business enterprise,” he said.

“Above all, the intention to do good must not be considered incompatible with the effective capacity to produce goods,’’ he wrote. “Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity so as to not abuse the sophisticated instruments which can serve to betray the interests of savers.’’

Pope Benedict will meet Barack Obama, US president, on Friday at the close of the three-day summit which is being held near the central city of L’Aquila, devastated by an earthquake in April and still experiencing strong aftershocks.

The encyclical addresses a broad range of other issues, including migration, terrorism, sexual tourism, population issues, the environment, bioethics, and energy.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

Ratzinger’s book on Christ

Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth (New York: Doubleday, 2007), 374pp. For over a century, the historical-critical study of Scripture has been pre-occupied with the chasm separating what we can reliably know about the Jesus of history and the Christ of post-Easter faith. Efforts have been made to identify layers of traditions, with contradictory results but widespread agnosticism about the historical Jesus. Ratzinger believes that the historical-critical method is an “indispensable dimension of exegetical work,” but he also insists that the method has its limits and is not, therefore, sufficient by itself. Despite the wide variation of texts in the Bible, he assumes “a prior act of faith” that believes in “a single overall direction” or “overall unity” of the Bible. “I trust the Gospels,” he says. After his short methodological introduction, Pope Benedict offers a comprehensive survey of the life and teachings of Jesus. Jesus was not just a rebel rabbi or an enlightened teacher of “prudential morality.” In one of the most interesting portions of the book (pp. 103-127), he uses as a friendly foil the book by the acclaimed Jewish scholar Jacob Neusner called A Rabbi Talks with Jesus. Neusner gets it right, he thinks, even though he cannot commit himself in faith to Jesus, because he understands that Jesus substituted his very own self for all that Jewish history and theology holds dear. Jesus himself, in this view, is the new Torah, the new Temple, the new Sabbath, the new Israel. Benedict shows this to be the case as he works through chapters on the baptism and temptation of Jesus, his proclamation of the kingdom, the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord’s Prayer, the Disciples, the parables, the Johannine material, Peter’s Confession, and the Transfiguration. There are few surprises in this book by the leader of global Catholicism. He aims to write in a personal and pastoral style but sometimes digresses into more scientific theological jargon, much of it about older German thinkers like Bultmann, Harnack and Julicher. This gives the book a distinctly Eurocentric feel. The book is “in no way an exercise of [his] magisterium, but is solely an expression of my personal search ‘for the face of the Lord’ (Psalm 27:8). Everyone is free, then, to contradict me.” Credo For Today: What Christians Believe Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger What do Christians believe? What gives meaning to our life? What is the purpose of life? The Christian answer to these questions is found in the Creed, in the profession of faith. But what do the articles of this confession actually mean? And how to they affect our lives? Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, takes a fresh look at these timeless questions. This work is a reflection of the profound, personal insights of Benedict XVI, but also of the great foundations of Christianity: faith, hope, and charity. Ratzinger writes eloquently and persuasively about the importance for followers of Christ to understand well what they believe so one can live as a serious Christian in today’s secular world. He talks in depth about the true meaning of faith, hope, and love–the love of God and the love of neighbor. He also discusses the crucial importance of a lived faith, for the believer himself as well as being a witness for our age, and striving to bring faith in line with the present age that has veered off into rampant secularism and materialism. Continue reading… Faith and the Future Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Foreword by James Schall, S.J. Increasingly, the future is becoming a theme for theological reflection. In the background we can detect a growing concern among many people for the future of faith. Does faith have any future at all, and, if so, where in all the confusion of today’s trends will we discover its embryo? But the problem of the future assails not only the believer. In the ever more rapidly advancing process of historical evolution, man is confronted with enormous opportunities, but also with colossal perils. For him, the future is not only hope, but sorrow–a nightmare, indeed. He cannot avoid asking what part faith can play in building tomorrow’s world. Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, approaches this problem of universal concern from a variety of angles, bringing his deep personal faith and theological brilliance to bear on these serious questions. Continue reading… Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine Pope Benedict XVI Following his best selling book, Jesus of Nazareth, and his talks published in Jesus, the Apostles, and the Early Church, Pope Benedict’s Church Fathers presents these important figures of early Christianity in all their evangelical vitality, spiritual profundity, and uncompromising love of God. Benedict tells the true story of Christianity’s against-all-odds triumph in the face of fierce Roman hostility and persecution. He does this by exploring the lives and the ideas of the early Christian writers, pastors, and martyrs, men so important to the spread of Christianity that history remembers them as “the Fathers of the Church”. This rich and engrossing survey of the early Church includes those churchmen who immediately succeeded the Apostles, the “Apostolic Fathers”: Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus of Lyon. Benedict also discusses such great Christian figures as Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian of Carthage, the Cappadocian Fathers, as well as the giants John Chrysostom, Jerome, and Augustine. This book is a wonderful way to get to know the Church Fathers and the tremendous spiritually rich patrimony they have bequeathed to us. Continue Benedict XVI: An Intimate Portrait Peter Seewald In the person of Benedict XVI, the Church has a Pope who is one of the most significant of Europe’s intellectuals. The journalist Peter Seewald, who has known Ratzinger since 1992, conducted the “longest interviews in Church history” with him, for two books which were best-sellers world-wide, Salt of the Earth and God and the World. Now, for the first time, Seewald describes these intensive encounters in detail, and draws a portrait of this brilliant theologian who has put his life entirely at the service of the Catholic Church. This book is also the story of a long dialogue that changed Seewald’s life. Many people are trying to understand who Benedict XVI really is. On one point they all agree: in the person of Joseph Ratzinger, the chair of Peter is occupied by one of the most brilliant minds in the world. Peter Seewald’s portrait of Benedict recounts details about the personality and life of Benedict that were hitherto completely unknown. Continue reading… Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration (paperback edition, with a new index) Pope Benedict XVI In this bold, momentous work, Joseph Ratzinger–in his first book written since he became Pope–seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from recent “popular” depictions and to restore Jesus’ true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the Pope shares a rich, compelling, flesh-and-blood portrait of Jesus and invites us to encounter, face-to-face, the central figure of the Christian faith. From Jesus of Nazareth: “the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book: What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God! He has brought the God who formerly unveiled his countenance gradually first to Abraham, then to Moses and the Prophets, and then in the Wisdom Literature–the God who revealed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the peoples of the earth. “He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about where we are going and where we come from: faith, hope, and love.” Continue reading… Jesus of Nazareth Study Guide Mark Brumley, Matthew Levering, Tom Harmon, and Laura Dittus This easy-to-use companion study guide helps the readers who approach Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth without the benefit of extensive theological or biblical training. The goal is not to replace Benedicts book but to make it more accessible, more fruitful for the average reader–whether lay, religious, priest or deacon. Designed for individual study or for group/parish discussion, this guide has the following features for each section and chapter of Jesus of Nazareth: • a reader-friendly summary • an outline • a list of key terms • questions for understanding, reflection, application and discussion • a section for readers to include their personal reflections on the reading The guide also includes an ample introduction explaining the background for understanding Pope Benedict’s approach and how to use this guide as an easy-to-use glossary that defines important terms and identifies key people discussed in Jesus of Nazareth. Pope Benedict In America Pope Benedict XVI During his six-day apostolic visit to Washington and New York, Pope Benedict addressed millions of people–in person or via the media. He gave some fifteen major addresses, ranging from his remarks to the President of the United States to his address to ecumenical leaders at St. Joseph Parish in New York, from his speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations to his message to the Jewish community celebrating the feast of Passover. In all of his addresses, Benedict spoke as the Vicar of Christ with the message of divine truth and love, of genuine faith and a well-founded, Christ-centered hope. This book contains all of Benedict’s major addresses in a handy slim deluxe hardcover edition perfect for studying and reflecting on the Pope’s profound and insightful words on a variety of important spiritual, moral, and social issues. Continue reading… The God of Jesus Christ: Meditations on the Triune God Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger In this book of meditations, based on a series of homilies and meditations presented and compiled by the author shortly before he became Archbishop of Munich-Freising, in 1977, theologian Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) presents his profound thoughts on the nature and person of God, building a bridge between theology and spirituality as he makes wide use of the Sacred Scriptures to reveal the beauty and mystery of who God is. He writes about each of the three persons in the Holy Trinity, showing the different attributes of each person, and that “God is three and God is one.” God is–and the Christian faith adds: God is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three and one. This is the very heart of Christianity, but it is so often shrouded in a silence born of perplexity. Continue reading… Dogma and Preaching Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger All of us have at one time or another wrestled with the problem of evil; few of us have not experienced in themselves the predicament of Job. Others have been consumed by the question: What is time? Some have cried that more attention be given the individual, specifically to women. Still others harbor a deep fear of the word “Americanize.” In one way or another the foregoing questions and voluminous others of equal rank are the basis of problems that worry the modern world. Whether we realize it or not they are the kind of questions to which we would like answers in order to make life worth living. Fortunately, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger has proposed a series of incisive meditations that go a long way in facing questions that besiege the modern mind. Beginning with a consideration of his personal Christology the author clearly and calmly unfolds against the backdrop of the liturgical year the drama in which the modern soul finds itself. Continue reading… God’s Word: Scripture, Tradition, Office Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger In this book Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, presents the Word of God as a living reality in the Church. God’s Word, according to Ratzinger, is encountered in the Bible, in Tradition, and through the teaching Office of the Bishop, who, through apostolic succession, is to be the servant of and witness to the divine Word. Ratzinger examines as well the relationship between the Episcopacy and the Papacy. He also considers the nature of Apostolic Succession, and he responds to Reformed objections to the Catholic view of the subject. His treatment is sympathetic to the concerns of non-Catholic Christians while remaining faithful to Catholic teaching and practice. This book also includes the famous Erasmus Lecture of Cardinal Ratzinger, which assesses the strengths and weaknesses of modern critical approaches to biblical interpretation. Ratzinger proposes a new approach that avoids the pitfalls of a narrowly critical outlook on the Bible without succumbing to fundamentalism. Continue reading… OTHER RECENT BOOKS by/about JOSEPH RATZINGER/BENEDICT XVI: April 19th, 2005: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger is elected to be the 265th pope. He takes the name Benedict XVI. As Pope John Paul II’s chief doctrinal officer and key advisor, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1981 to 2005. He is the most revered prelate, scholar, theologian, teacher and Catholic author of our time, under Pope John Paul II – having spoken on everything from sexual consumerism, private revelation and the “crisis of faith,” to human rights, roles of men and women today, marriage, the priesthood, and the future of the world. Yet, the depth, candor and humble servitude of this highest-ranking Cardinal will likely be his lasting hallmark, as he is most engaging in God and the World (Ignatius, 2002), perhaps even more than in previous writings. Ratzinger was born in Germany (Bavaria) on Holy Saturday, April 16, 1927, and baptized that same day. He has said of his early baptism, “To be the first person baptized with the new water was seen as a significant act of Providence. I have always been filled with thanksgiving for having had my life immersed in this way in the Easter Mystery…”. His father worked as a rural policeman, which kept his family continually moving from town to town. In his memoirs about his early life (prior to his appointment as Archbishop of Munich), Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977 (Ignatius, 1999), Ratzinger depicts his family life as quite happy. Family and Church were, for him, inseparable – and he clearly saw Hitler and the Third Reich as the enemy to both. He has said of his father, “…He saw that a victory of Hitler would not be a victory for Germany but a victory of the Antichrist…”. Following his father’s retirement while Joseph Ratzinger was a teenager, the younger Ratzinger initiated study of classical languages, and in 1939, entered the minor seminary in Traunstein. In 1943 while still in seminary, he was drafted at age 16 into the German anti-aircraft corps. (Though he was opposed to the Nazis, he was forced to join at a young age.) Ratzinger then trained in the German infantry, but a subsequent illness precluded him from the usual rigors of military duty. As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he escaped from the Nazis and returned to his family’s home in Traunstein, just as American troops established their headquarters in the Ratzinger household. As a German soldier, he was put in a POW camp but was released a few months later at the end of the War in summer 1945. He re-entered the seminary, along with his brother Georg, in November of that year. Ratzinger and his brother Georg were ordained to the priesthood on June 29, 1951, in the Cathedral of Freising on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. He received his doctorate in theology in 1953 from the University of Munich. Beginning in 1959, he taught theology at the University of Bonn. Ratzinger became more widely known when, during the Second Vatican Council and at the age of 35, he was appointed chief theological advisor for the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joseph Frings, for the four-year duration of the Council. After continuing his teaching at several German universities, Ratzinger was appointed by Pope Paul VI in March 1977 as Archbishop of Munich and Freising. In June 1977, he was elevated to Cardinal. Pope John Paul II summoned Cardinal Ratzinger to Rome in November 1981, and named him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and President of the International Theological Commission. He has published several best-selling books which clarify faith practice and Catholic doctrine for today’s Catholic and Christian: The Ratzinger Report (1985); Salt of the Earth (1996); The Spirit of the Liturgy (2000); God and the World (2002), God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life (2003), Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions (2004), and Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Church As Communion(2005). Additionally, he worked with some 40 collaborators and over a thousand bishops to produce the 900+ page Catechism of the Catholic Church. He then co-authored Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church with former student Christoph Cardinal Schoenborn. Ratzinger worked more closely with Pope John Paul II than perhaps anyone else. On Tuesdays, Ratzinger and members of the Congregation would meet with the Pope for an hour-and-a-half lunch meeting. Then Ratzinger would meet alone with the late Pope every Friday evening to discuss critical problems facing the Church and the deliberations of the Congregation. “Then the Pope decides,” Ratzinger said about those meetings. Ratzinger wielded spiritual influence and worldwide respect even from those who didn’t hold to the Catholic faith. As papal biographer for John Paul II, George Weigel, has said, “…not even his [Ratzinger’s] implacable enemies ever questioned Joseph Ratzinger’s erudition: his encyclopedic knowledge of theology; his command of biblical, patristic, scholastic, and contemporary sources; his elegance as a thinker and writer.” In an April 2005 interview with ZENIT news service, Ignatius Press president Mark Brumley said, “Although Ratzinger the prefect is distinguishable from Ratzinger the theologian, we are blessed in Pope Benedict XVI with a theologian and pastor who has thought and prayed long and hard about Jesus Christ, the Church and her mission to the world. He will, I believe, continue the twofold task of Vatican II — renewing the inner life of the Church and reinvigorating the Church’s mission in the world. He is committed to a renewal of biblical studies and a deepening of ordinary Catholics’ appreciation of and participation in the sacred liturgy. “He staunchly proclaims the universal call to holiness of Vatican II,” added Brumley. “He understands the importance of dialogue among Christians and dialogue with world religions and seekers, while he upholds the integrity of Catholic faith and insists on a renewed missionary drive to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.” Books by Benedict XVI/Joseph Ratzinger available from Ignatius Press: • An Invitation to Faith: An A to Z Primer on the Thought of Pope Benedict XVI • Behold the Pierced One • The Blessing of Christmas • Called to Communion • Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures • Church, Ecumenism and Politics: New Endeavors in Ecclesiology • Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year • Daughter Zion • The Dialectics of Secularization: On Reason and Religion (with Jürgen Habermas) • Dogma and Preaching • The Essential Pope Benedict XVI • Europe: Today and Tomorrow • The Feast of Faith • God and the World • God Is Love/Deus Caritas Est • God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life • The God of Jesus Christ: Meditations on the Triune God • God’s Revolution • God’s Word: Scripture, Tradition, Office • Gospel, Catechism and Catechesis • Handing on the Faith in an Age of Disbelief • Images of Hope: Meditations On Major Feasts • Introduction to Christianity • Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church • Jesus, The Apostles, and the Early Church • Jesus of Nazareth (hardcover) • Jesus of Nazareth (paperback) • Many Religions, One Covenant • Mary, The Church at the Source (with Hans Urs von Balthasar) • Meaning of Christian Brotherhood • Milestones: 1927-1977 • Nature and Mission of Theology • New Outpourings of the Spirit • On Conscience • On The Way To Jesus Christ • Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Church As Communion • Pope Benedict In America • Principles of Christian Morality (co-author) • Principles of Catholic Theology • The Legacy of John Paul II: Images and Memories • The Ratzinger Report • Salt of the Earth • Seek That Which Is Above • Spe Salvi (Saved In Hope) • The Spirit of the Liturgy • Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions • Values In A Time of Upheaval • What It Means to Be a Christian • Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam Books/DVDs about Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI: • Benedict XVI: An Intimate Portrait | Peter Seewald • Creation and Evolution: A Conference with Pope Benedict XVI | Fr. Stephan Horn • Christ, Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI | Msgr. Joseph Murphy • Joseph Ratzinger: Life in the Church and Living Theology, Fundamentals of Ecclesiology | Maximilian Heinrich Heim • Joseph and Chico: The Life of Pope Benedict XVI As Told By a Cat | Jeanne Perego • Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age (A Theological Portrait) | Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D. • The Way of Love: Reflections on Pope Benedict XVI’s Encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” | Edited by Carl Livio and Anderson Melina • Pope Benedict XVI: Servant of the Truth | Peter Seewald • God’s Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church | George Weigel • The Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI: Let God’s Light Shine Forth | Robert Moynihan • The Election of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (DVD) EXCERPTS from the writings of BENEDICT XVI/JOSEPH RATZINGER: • Introduction to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s God’s Word: Scripture, Tradition, Office | Peter Hünermann and Thomas Södin • “Introduction to Christianity”: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow | From the Second Edition of Introduction to Christianity • The Pope’s Childhood: In His Own Words | From Salt of the Earth, An Interview by Peter Seewald • Pope Benedict XVI on Jesus, the Apostles, and the Early Christians • The Essential Nature and Task of the Church | From God and the World • Faith in the Triune God, and Peace in the World | From Europe: Today and Tomorrow • The Truth of the Resurrection | From Introduction to Christianity • “Primacy in Love”: The Chair Altar of Saint Peter’s in Rome | From Images of Hope • For “Many” or For “All”? | From God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life • Why Do We Need Faith? | From From What It Means to Be a Christian • Music and Liturgy | From The Spirit of the Liturgy • The Altar and the Direction of Liturgical Prayer | From The Spirit of the Liturgy • How Should We Worship? | Preface to Alcuin Reid’s The Organic Development of the Liturgy • Pope Benedict XVI Praises Hans Urs von Balthasar • Seeing Jesus in the Gospel of John | From On The Way to Jesus Christ • Peter and Succession | From Called To Communion: Understanding the Church Today • On the Papacy, John Paul II, and the Nature of the Church | From God and the World: A Conversation with Peter Seewald • Benedict XVI’s Rookie Year As a Priest | From Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977 • Are Truth, Faith, and Tolerance Compatible? | From Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions. • What in Fact Is Theology? | From Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Church As Communion • Selected excerpts from The Ratzinger Report • The Ministry and Life of Priests | Aug/Sept 1997 Homiletic & Pastoral Review • Foreword to U.M. Lang’s Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. RELATED ARTICLES AND REVIEWS: • “The Reality of God”: Benedict XVI on the Trinity | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • Ratzinger’s Faith and Reason | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • Benedict XVI’s Theological Vision: An Introduction | Monsignor Joseph Murphy | From the introduction to Christ, Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI • Pope Benedict XVI, Theologian of Joy | Monsignor Joseph Murphy | An interview with the author of Christ, Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI • Spe Salvi and Vatican II | Brian A. Graebe • Vatican II and the Ecclesiology of Joseph Ratzinger | Maximilian Heinrich Heim | Introduction to Joseph Ratzinger: Life in the Church and Living Theology. • The Courage To Be Imperfect | Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D. | The Introduction to Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age • The Theological Genius of Joseph Ratzinger | An Interview with Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D. • God Made Visible: On the Foreword to Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • Benedict and the Eucharist: On the Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis | Carl E. Olson • Pope Benedict XVI On Natural Law | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • Benedict on Aquinas: “Faith Implies Reason” | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • Secularity: On Benedict XVI and the Role of Religion in Society | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • Benedict the Brusque? On Fr. Clooney’s Vision of interreligious Dialogue | Carl E. Olson • “A Requirement of Intellectual Honesty”: On Benedict and the German Bishops | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • Is Dialogue with Islam Possible? Some Reflections on Pope Benedict XVI’s Address at the University of Regensburg | Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J. • The Regensburg Lecture: Thinking Rightly About God and Man | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • Benedict Takes the Next Step with Islam | Mark Brumley • Ratzinger and Regensburg: On What Is a University? | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • First Musings on Benedict XVI’s First Encyclical | Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J. • The Encyclical: God’s Eros Is Agape | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • On Reading the Pope | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • Reading Genesis with Cardinal Ratzinger | Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, O.P. • A Jesus Worth Dying For | A review of On The Way to Jesus Christ | Justin Nickelsen • Letters From the Synod| Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. • WYD 2005: A Festival of Grace | Eric Thomason • Reflections on Benedict XVI | An Interview with Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ • Worshipping at the Feet of the Lord: Pope Benedict XVI and the Liturgy | By Anthony E. Clark • The Way of Benedict | By Colleen Carroll Campbell • Confronting Modern Culture; Asserting the Gospel | By James Hitchcock • Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger: Man for the Job | James Hitchcock • Ratzinger on the Modern Mind | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. • Suppose We Had a “Liberal” Pope | Fr. James V. Schall, S. J. • Cardinal Ratzinger on Liturgical Music | Michael J. Miller • Ratzinger on Ecumenism: A Reading List | Carl E. Olson OTHER LINKS AND SITES OF INTEREST: • Vatican page for Pope Benedict XVI • The “Spirit of the Liturgy” website • The “Joseph and Chico” website • The Pope Benedict XVI Fan Club site • The Ratzinger Fan Club site • The theological journal Communio, co-founded by Cardinal Ratzinger, has many of his articles available online.