October
25, 2004: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's
most recent book, Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions,
is now available. More information, including excerpts, can be
found here.
As
Pope John Paul II's chief doctrinal officer and key
advisor, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger has been Prefect
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1981. 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
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
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
He received his doctorate in theology in 1953 from the
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
Additionally, he worked with some 40 collaborators and over a
thousand bishops to produce the 900+ page Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Ratzinger works more
closely with Pope John Paul II than perhaps anyone else. On Tuesdays, Ratzinger and members of the Congregation meet with the
Pope for an hour-and-a-half lunch meeting. Then Ratzinger
meets alone with the Pope every Friday evening to discuss critical problems
facing the Church and the deliberations of the Congregation. "Then the
Pope decides," says Ratzinger.
Ratzinger has wielded
spiritual influence and worldwide respect even from those who don'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."
Books
by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger published by Ignatius
Press:
- Behold the Pierced One
- Called to Communion
- Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year
- The Feast of Faith
- God and the World
- God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life
- Gospel, Catechism and Catechesis
- Introduction to Christianity
- Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
- Many Religions, One Covenant
- Meaning of Christian Brotherhood
- Milestones: 1927-1977
- Nature and Mission of Theology
- Principles of Christian Morality (co-author)
- Principles of Catholic Theology
- The Ratzinger Report
- Salt of the Earth
- The Spirit of the Liturgy
- Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions