Posts Tagged ‘Pope Benedict XVI’

CTS authors reflect on Pope Benedict – Fr Ian Ker

CTS author Fr Ian Ker, who is an expert on blessed Cardinal Newman, told us that it is Pope Benedict’s work clarifying the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council which really stands out as a lasting legacy.

“There were two things that so impressed me about Pope Benedict XVI. The first was that Pope John Paul II’s ‘enforcer’, the ‘rottweiler’ as the media stupidly called him, was shown to be the most gentle, humble, and kind of people.

He showed that a Christian can stand firm for the truth but without aggression and anger. The second was that he put his finger on the real nature of the battle that has been going on in the Church since the Second Vatican Council: is the Council to be interpreted in continuity with the tradition or in rupture with the tradition of the Church?

Things will never be the same again now that the real issue that is at stake has been made crystal clear.”

Fr Ker has written Cardinal Newman – His Life and Legacy for CTS

Of related interest:

Election of a Pope Election of a Pope (revised ed.) -This booklet explains the new norms promulgated by John Paul II in 1996 and combines the technical with the historical and spiritual elements of the process to produce a unique and highly informative summary.
Benedict XVI Benedict XVI Biography – revised ed – Here we discover a ‘humble and thoroughly kind man’, a leading thinker very much in touch with this modern age.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 09:38

Benedict XVI – His papacy in his own words part 3

In the third instalment of our looking back at Benedict XVI papacy, we wanted to bring to your attention his tireless work as a pastor. He was not just an intellectual pope, or a teaching pope, he was a great defender of and fighter for the family.

The World Meeting of Families was another tradition he inherited from his predecessor, and he took it on and made it his own, as this quote from the 2006 meeting in Valencia Spain, demonstrates:

“The family is an intermediate institution between individuals and society, and nothing can completely take its place. The challenges of present-day society, marked by the centrifugal forces generated especially in urban settings, make it necessary to ensure that families do not feel alone. A small family can encounter difficult obstacles when it is isolated from relatives and friends. The ecclesial community therefore has the responsibility of offering support, encouragement and spiritual nourishment which can strengthen the cohesiveness of the family, especially in times of trial or difficulty.”

Of related interest:

Election of a Pope Election of a Pope (revised ed.) -This booklet explains the new norms promulgated by John Paul II in 1996 and combines the technical with the historical and spiritual elements of the process to produce a unique and highly informative summary.
Benedict XVI Benedict XVI Biography – revised ed – Here we discover a ‘humble and thoroughly kind man’, a leading thinker very much in touch with this modern age.
Tuesday, 19 February 2013 09:02

CTS authors reflect on Pope Benedict – Abbot Cuthbert Johnson OSB

Continuing our posts from CTS authors on Benedict XVI, Abbot Cuthbert Johnson OSB gives a personal memory of Benedict’s first days in office.

“About six months after the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, I had to attend a meeting in Rome. As I was crossing Saint Peter’s Square I met some of the vendors of small religious objects. I knew several of them from the time when I worked in Rome. I asked one of them how things were and his impressions of the new Pope. Whether it was his own observation or he had heard it from others I do not know, but he said, ‘The pilgrims used to come to see Pope John Paul II but now they come to listen to Pope Benedict XVI’. This observation was both profound and prophetical.

I believe that Pope Benedict XVI through his writings and discourses has left the Church a rich patrimony of wisdom and sound teaching.”

Abbot Cuthbert Johnson OSB has written several CTS booklets on the Mass and the new English translation.

Of related interest:

Election of a Pope Election of a Pope (revised ed.) -This booklet explains the new norms promulgated by John Paul II in 1996 and combines the technical with the historical and spiritual elements of the process to produce a unique and highly informative summary.
Benedict XVI Benedict XVI Biography – revised ed – Here we discover a ‘humble and thoroughly kind man’, a leading thinker very much in touch with this modern age.
Monday, 18 February 2013 09:28

Benedict XVI – His papacy in his own words part 2

During his first Christmas as Pope, the man the media had horridly branded as the “Panzer pope” or “God’s Rottweiler” published his first encyclical, the extraordinary Deus Caritas Est, or God is Love.

A stupendous exposition of his learning, humility and love for the Lord, in the introduction he explains:

“We have come to believe in God’s love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” (Deus Caritas Est. 1)

Of related interest:

Election of a Pope Election of a Pope (revised ed.) -This booklet explains the new norms promulgated by John Paul II in 1996 and combines the technical with the historical and spiritual elements of the process to produce a unique and highly informative summary.
Benedict XVI Benedict XVI Biography – revised ed – Here we discover a ‘humble and thoroughly kind man’, a leading thinker very much in touch with this modern age.
Friday, 15 February 2013 09:10

Benedict XVI – His papacy in his own words part 1

Today we remember how the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger accepted the papacy after John Paul II eight years ago.

In his inaugural homily as Pope on 24th April 2005, Pope Benedict XVI said:

“One of the basic characteristics of a shepherd must be to love the people entrusted to him, even as he loves Christ whom he serves. ‘Feed my sheep’, says Christ to Peter, and now, at this moment, he says it to me as well.”

This invitation he certainly answered.

Of related interest:

Election of a Pope Election of a Pope (revised ed.) -This booklet explains the new norms promulgated by John Paul II in 1996 and combines the technical with the historical and spiritual elements of the process to produce a unique and highly informative summary.
Benedict XVI Benedict XVI Biography – revised ed – Here we discover a ‘humble and thoroughly kind man’, a leading thinker very much in touch with this modern age.
Thursday, 14 February 2013 09:15
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