Father Hermann Geissler, an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has worked closely with Joseph Ratzinger for many years. Here, he shares some of his reflections on the man and his work. I have vivid memories of my first meeting with Cardinal Ratzinger in 1993. He said to me: “When you start [...]
On April 19, 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected successor of Peter, choosing the name Benedict XVI. On April 19 this year, seven years will have passed. Let us celebrate these seven years. In due time, scholars and wise observers will have many revealing things to say about the significance of Benedict XVI’s first seven years [...]
On March 26 in Cuba, in Antonio Maceo Revolution Square, in Santiago, Cuba’s second-largest city, in front of 200,000 people, Cuban President Raul Castro sat in the front row for Mass. This seemed incongruous, and yet also, a sign of hope for the future in a Communist state which, though now more tolerant of religious practice [...]
“Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act... to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. Human freedom... attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude... The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what [...]
