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• Biography of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI • All books by or about Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI • Excerpts from books by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI • Articles about Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI NEW & RECENT BOOKS by/about JOSEPH RATZINGER/BENEDICT XVI: 
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. Has the Church perhaps gone one step too far here? Ought we not rather leave something so great and inaccessible as God in his inaccessibility? Can something like the Trinity have any real meaning for us? It is certainly true that the proposition that "God is three and God is one" is and remains the expression of his otherness, which is infinitely greater than us and transcends all our thinking and our existence. But, as Joseph Ratzinger shows, if this proposition meant nothing to us, it would not have been revealed! And as a matter of fact, it could be clothed in human language only because it had already penetrated human thinking and living to some extent. 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... 
Creation and Evolution: A Conference with Pope Benedict XVI
Fr. Stephan Horn Available April 2008 | Foreword by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn | In 2005 the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn wrote a guest editorial in The New York Times that sparked a worldwide debate about "Creation and Evolution". Pope Benedict XVI instructed the Cardinal to study more closely this problem and the current debate between "evolutionism" and "creationism," and asked the yearly gathering of his former students to address these questions. Even after Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI, he has continued to maintain close contact with the circle of his former students. The "study circle" (Schulerkrers) meets once a year with Pope Benedict XVI for a conference. Many of these former Ratzinger students have gone on to become acclaimed scholars, professors and writers, as well as high ranking Church prelates. This book documents the proceedings of the remarkable conference on the topic of "Creation and Evolution" hosted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 at the papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. It includes papers that were presented from the fields of natural science, philosophy and theology, and records the subsequent discussion, in which Pope Benedict XVI himself participated. Continue reading... 
Church, Ecumenism and Politics: New Endeavors in Ecclesiology
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Available May 2008 | This work features the most discussed topics of the life of the Church, treated with unique frankness and depth by the Church's spiritual and theological leader. In this collection of essays, theologian Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, tackles three major issues in the Church today--the nature of the Church, the pursuit of Christian unity, and the relationship of Christianity to the secular/political power. The first part of the book explores Vatican II's teaching on the Church, what it means to call the Church "the People of God", the role of the Pope, and the Synod of Bishops. In part two, Ratzinger frankly assesses the ecumenical movement--its achievements, problems, and principles for authentic progress toward Christian unity. In the third part of the work, Ratzinger discusses both fundamental questions and particular issues concerning the Church, the state and human fulfillment in the Age to come. What does the Bible say about faith and politics? How should the Church work in pluralistics societies? What are the problems with Liberation Theology? How should we understand freedom in the Church and in society? Continue reading... 
Christ, Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI
Msgr. Joseph Murphy Noticing how often the new Pope had the topic of "joy" as the central theme of his many addresses, Murphy delved into the vast writings of the Pope, before and after his election to the papacy, and found that the theme of joy has pervaded all of his theology. Recognizing the Pope's invitation to joy as a key to understanding his basic theological vision, Murphy develops those ideas and writings in a creative way, and helps the reader to engage personally with the original and pastoral mind of Joseph Ratzinger, professor, pastor, and now Pope Benedict XVI. This joy is nothing other than the joy of the Christian faith. Indeed, the "first word of the New Testament", says Pope Benedict XVI, "is an invitation to joy". The Gospel of Jesus Christ, he insists, is not a burdensome imposition but is truly "glad tidings" for mankind. Christianity is the key to true and lasting joy, the only joy that abides in the midst of life's anxieties and difficulties. Written in a clear and engaging style, this book argues that joy is central to all of Pope Benedict's thought. All the other great themes of the Christian faith are intimately connected with it and radiate out from it. The world is in need of hearing once again the message of joy which Jesus Christ makes known. Continue reading... 
Saved in Hope: Spe Salvi
Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI's second encyclical, Saved In Hope, ("Spe Salvi" in Latin) takes its title from St. Paul, who wrote, "In hope we have been saved". In this special deluxe hardcover edition of the work, the Holy Father continues a line of thought he began with his first encyclical, God is Love. Love and Hope are closely related in the spiritual life. Love of God involves hope or trust in God. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man". Hope enables us to look to the next life, but it also inspires and purifies our actions in this life. Pope Benedict considers modern philosophies and the challenges of faith today in light of the virtue of hope. "Confronted by today's changing and complex panorama, the virtue of hope is subject to harsh trials in the community of believers. For this very reason, we must be apostles who are filled with hope and joyful trust in God's promises. In contemporary society, which shows such visible signs of secularism, we must not give in to despair." -- Pope 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 a recent 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 • 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 • 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 • Principles of Christian Morality (co-author) • Principles of Catholic Theology • 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: • 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 • 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: • 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: • 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 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. |
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