Description
Before I get up, I first say a short prayer. The day looks different if you don’t just stumble straight into it … After that there is the Holy Mass and the breviary … Then comes the ordinary work.” Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Including a foreword by Bishop Phonsie Cullinan, this new volume of essays takes the reader on a journey through the life and thoughts of Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th Pontiff. Amongst others, Bishop Donal McKeown recounts his memories attending Pope Benedict’s World Youth Days, and John Waters analyses the determined stance the Pope has taken in defending truth. Fr. Vincent Twomey examines Cardinal Ratzinger’s ground-breaking thoughts on artificial reproduction, while Mark Dooley writes on the connection between beauty and the sacred. And more …
With over twenty essays, this list of Irish contributors, religious and lay, provide what is merely a taster and introduction to the writings of Joseph Ratzinger that have spanned now seven decades and over 100 books, before even considering his essays in journals, nor his extensive and expansive speeches, messages, homilies and letters from the See of Peter. Acknowledged by many as one of the greatest thinkers of the last century, the book aims to introduce the reader to the theology, philosophy and personality of this understated Priest, Bishop, Cardinal, Pope and theologian.
“Pope Benedict XVI has written and said so much, on so many different topics, during his Papacy, but also for decades before that as Priest, Bishop, Archbishop and Cardinal – and especially as Prefect of the CDF – that it is almost impossible to know where to start reading. The contributors to this volume help solve that and provide a gateway to the thoughts of this understated Pope.” Niamh Uí Bhriain, The Life Institute
“History may show Pope Benedict XVI as one of the most misunderstood Popes of the modern era. Lacking the wide appeal of both his predecessor and successor, he could never be a ‘Pope for the masses’. As an intellectual seeker of truth, he could not but fall foul of those whose ideas he was to challenge. He was the man who, in the words of British Prime Minister David Cameron, made people sit up and think. This collection of essays by Irish people of different vocations – lay, clergy and religious – covers important themes of his Papacy. It is not a history book. It is a helpful guide to the thought of one of the Catholic Church’s big fish.” Senator Rónán Mullen
“As pope, bishop and theologian, Benedict XVI has been one of the most important, clear-thinking, Catholic and public intellectuals of the last number of decades. This book is an important and useful guide to his thought.” David Quinn, The Iona Institute
