Benedict XVI: The Man Who Was Ratzinger - Hardcover

Michael S. Rose

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1890626635 ISBN 13: 9781890626631

Publisher: Spence Publishing Company, 2005

Synopsis

Though the election to the papacy of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger stunned the world, very few expressed doubt about the direction in which the allegedly authoritarian pope would lead the Catholic Church. Yet Benedict XVI is likely to surprise those expecting uncritical adherence to the policies of John Paul II, according to a new biography by Michael Rose, author of the best-selling Goodbye, Good Men. The first biographer seriously to probe Benedict s vast intellectual record, Rose sheds penetrating new light on the man who was Ratzinger. Perhaps the most imposing intellectual ever to assume the papacy, Ratzinger has been recognized as a world-class theologian since the time of Vatican II. In two decades as the chief guardian of Catholic doctrine, he addressed every controversy facing the Church: clerical sex abuse, feminism, religious pluralism, sexual revolution and the culture of death, secularism, and militant Islam. This uncommonly rich record, Rose argues, promises a new Counterreformation, purifying and reorienting the Catholic Church.Rose reveals that Cardinal Ratzinger, unquestionably John Paul II s closest collaborator, was privately critical of certain ecumenical, liturgical, and administrative policies of the late pope. While Benedict will undoubtedly follow John Paul s fundamental path, Rose predicts some critical departures that could enable this supposedly polarizing figure to become a powerful unifying force, reviving the Church and reawakening the West s Christian identity in its moment of crisis.In a valuable appendix to Benedict XVI, Rose provides an annotated list of all Ratzinger s works available in English and a catalogue of the directives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during his prefecture.

About this title

About the Author

MICHAEL S. ROSE, the author of the New York Times best-seller Goodbye, Good Men, is famous for his penetrating and reliable coverage of the Catholic Church. Educated at Brown University and the University of Cincinnati, he has written five previous books and is the Web Editor of the New Oxford Review. Mr Rose s work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Newsday, The American Conservative, and Catholic World Report. He is married with five children.

Reviews

In 40 years as a theologian, Joseph Ratzinger laid down a paper trail long enough for a Supreme Court's worth of judicial nominees. There is much, then, from which to prognosticate about what, as Pope Benedict XVI, he will do. Rose bases his forecasting in Ratzinger's strong advocacy of traditional Catholic doctrine. Benedict will strive to revive Christianity in Europe, maintain interfaith dialogue, confront militant Islam, fight moral relativism, curtail clerical sex abuse, minister to homosexuals, discipline maverick theologians, restore the liturgy, and reduce bureaucracy--but always as guided by traditional doctrine. To be otherwise guided--say, by the spirit of the age that normalizes homosexuality--is to be unchristian. It should go without saying that Benedict's authority will be merciful and forgiving, but hyperbolic and disingenuous carpers have obscured the patience and kindness Ratzinger showed as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Rose scrubs the mud off Ratzinger's reputation as he literately, carefully, and persuasively argues that Benedict XVI will be "of tremendous significance." Ray Olson
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Edition details

• Publisher: Spence Publishing Company
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1890626635
• ISBN 13: 9781890626631
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192