For decades before his election, Pope Benedict XVI was known across the world as an unwavering upholder of Catholic orthodoxy. Critics charged him with high-handedness, and even likened the Vatican department he ran to the KGB. His backers hailed him as a courteous, deeply intelligent figure whose concern to rein in relativism and other forms of dissent appeared timely. Both sides agreed that he was the single most important enforcer of John Paul II's policies, and that intellectually, he towers over most of his recent predecessors.
What kind of a man is Benedict XVI behind the slogans? What were the influences that shaped him, and how might the Catholic Church evolve under his leadership?
Written for the general reader, this book aims to answer these and other questions, including the puzzle over the then Joseph Ratzinger's disavowal of his youthful liberalism from the late 1960s onwards. Following the approach adopted in his study of Archbishop Rowan Williams, Rupert Shortt summarises the Pope's thought in the course of a biographical narrative. The assessment he provides will help dispel the stereotypes and misunderstandings that often mark discussion of church affairs generally.
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Rupert Shortt is religion editor of The Times Literary Supplement and a former Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford. He writes for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and the London Evening Standard. His books include Benedict XVI (2005), Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack (2012), Rowan's Rule: The Biography of the Archbishop (2014) and God Is No Thing: Coherent Christianity (2016).
The latest offering in a flurry of books about Catholicism's new leader delves into the mind of the man and explores how his thinking is likely to affect the church and the world. Shortt, religion editor of the Times Literary Supplement and author of two previous books (one on Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury), traces Benedict's evolution from supporter of reform to agent of restoration. In analyzing the new pope's past and present views, Shortt probed Benedict's extensive writings and interviewed about three dozen individuals spanning various religious and academic realms in Europe, Latin America and the United States. He skillfully blends Benedict's own words with the observations of others to create a balanced portrayal of the man who was first characterized by such appellations as "enforcer" and "God's Rottweiler" (though Shortt seems to prefer casting Benedict as "The German Shepherd," the title of his last chapter.) Throughout his concise assessment, the author touches on Benedict's involvement in such issues as liturgy, the relationship of church to world, the ordination of women, ecumenism and liberation theology. Shortt's book is commendable for its balance and thoroughness, though some readers may find its theological analyses a bit tedious. (July 15)
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