The Pope and the World

Pope Benedict XVI, while Pope, but also for years before that as Priest, Bishop, Theologian, Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has long engaged in a dialogue that has sought to clarify the relationship between the sacred and the secular. While initially considered progressive when engaged as peritus at the Second Vatican Council, the years have shown that he does not easily fit into any form of categorisation. While many of his peers have accused him of changing his views on the engagement of the Church in the world, Joseph Ratzinger argues that he has been consistent in his views while responding to a changing context. This book tracks the ideas of the Pope Emeritus across the years and across many themes as he battles with the rapidly changing modern world. It becomes clear that there has been no about-face in his positions over time, but, rather, that there is a definite consistency in his sense of directing the sacred-whether dealing with the Liturgy in a time of increasing worldliness or discussing the place of the faith in the civil-political sphere-across all spheres towards God and the transcendent. As he has lived and guided during an increasingly turbulent era for the Church, this has meant that his perspective and the clarity and precision of his words have placed him as a sign of contradiction in the world, just as he argues the Church should be.