Pope Francis received the recipients of the 2017 Ratzinger Prize in Theology on Saturday morning. Catholic Professor Karl-Heinz Menke of the Theological Faculty of the University of Bonn, Lutheran Professor Theodor Dieter of the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, and Orthodox composer Arvo Pärt, share the Prize this year, which Benedict XVI established in 2010 as the leading international award for research in Sacred Scripture, patristics, and [...]
January 22, 2017, Sunday -- On Trump, Francis Waits On the dangers -- and need for -- populist movements Pope Francis has granted another long interview, this time to two Spanish journalists writing for the daily El Pais of Madrid, Spain. The interview was conducted on Friday, January 20, in the Domus Santa Marta, where the [...]
December 8, 2016, Thursday -- The Silent Pope "This apostolic exhortation contains a number of statements that can be understood in a sense that is contrary to Catholic faith and morals... We request that the Cardinals and Patriarchs petition the Holy Father to condemn the errors... in a definitive and final manner." —Letter to Cardinal Angelo [...]
September 18, 2016, Sunday -- The Face of Christ and Unity "Seeking the Face of Jesus must be the longing of all of us Christians... If we persevere in our quest for the Face of the Lord, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, he, Jesus, will be our eternal joy, our reward and glory for [...]
September 17, 2016, Saturday -- The Bells of Rome, Last Conversations #4 "Peter Seewald: When you left the Vatican in a helicopter, this also was part in some way of the entire screenplay, as it were, at least as seen from the outside. One could say that up until that moment no Pope had ascended into [...]
September 15, 2016, Thursday -- Dark Night, Last Conversations with Pope Benedict, Letter #3 "Peter Seewald: Have you also experienced any of those 'dark nights' of which many saints speak? Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI: Such powerful experiences, no. Perhaps I am not holy enough to have plumbed the depths of that obscurity. However sometimes, things happen [...]
September 14, 2016, Wednesday -- "Seek His Face Always," Last Conversations with Pope Benedict, Letter #2 "Peter Seewald: When you find yourself before the Almighty, what will you say to Him? Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI: I will ask Him to be indulgent with my wretchedness." —Passage in the first chapter of Ultime Conversazioni ("Last Conversations"), by [...]
September 11, 2016, Sunday -- Last Conversations with Pope Benedict "Peter Seewald: The last question of these last conversations: love is one of your central themes. You dealt with the question of love as a student, as a professor, as a Pope. Where was love in your life? What was your experience: did you feel it, [...]
July 29, 2016, Friday -- Again, Russia... Earthen Vessels.... "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves." —2 Corinthians 4:7 "As light was the beginning of the first creation; so, in the new creation, the light of the Spirit is his [...]
It’s not a “Ratzinger Fan Club,” but rather a way to better understand the Faith... No Catholic who wants to take an in-depth look into the faith and the reality of the Church of our time can skip the works of the “Theologian Pope,” Benedict XVI. To really deepen one’s knowledge, or to literally become an [...]