“This volume, which brings together the texts I wrote in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, is to be published after my death. The words come from Benedict XVI. The German Pope, who died on December 31, ordered his personal notes to be destroyed, but authorized the publication of theological texts written after his 2013 resignation.
This book entitled What is Christianity. A spiritual quasi-testament, officially published in Italy on January 20 (1), but already available in many Roman bookstores, is in fact a collection of 16 texts, mostly written around the year 2018. Interventions, letters, articles: some are already known. But among them, five are unreleased in whole or in part. They concern, among other things, the Islamic-Christian dialogue, the definition of the concept of religion or the meaning of community.
But this “last work”, in Italian, as Francis’ predecessor himself calls it, contains above all an unpublished text entitled “Monotheism and Tolerance”, in which the German Pope “reflects the growing intolerance practiced precisely in the name of tolerance”. sharply criticized. in contemporary societies.
“Modern thinking no longer wants to recognize the truth of being”
“The modern state of the western world does in fact see itself in part as a tolerant great power that breaks with the senseless and pre-rational traditions of all religions,” writes Benedict XVI in particular contradiction to Christianity. »
For Benedict XVI, who bases his reflections on several passages from the Old Testament, “modern thought no longer wants to recognize the truth of being, but wants to take power over being. She wants to reshape the world according to her own needs and desires. “.
In these pages, where we find Cardinal Ratzinger’s critique of contemporary relativism, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith criticizes the “dictatorial claim to always be right” and “the renunciation of Christian anthropology and the resulting lifestyle of because it is considered pre-rational”. “The intolerance of this apparent modernity towards the Christian faith, Benedict XVI. gone, has not yet turned into open persecution. However, it appears increasingly authoritarian and wants to achieve the eradication of the Christian with the resulting legislation. »
Another text of note: the book also includes an amended version of a text on the priesthood that caused a stir in 2019 when it appeared just before the synod in a book co-signed by Cardinal Robert Sarah and the Pope Emeritus Amazonas, where the debate on the necessity of priestly celibacy had been opened. The publication of this book had sparked intense controversy, with some citing Benedict XVI’s desire to questioned actually publishing this text.
“Ontological Abstinence”
The inclusion of these pages in this new volume prepared by Benedict XVI. wanted and thought out and entrusted to his Italian biographer Elio Guerriero, however, clearly shows that the Pope Emeritus accepted these considerations well. And that he therefore did not intend it for private use. After developing several theological aspects on the meaning of the Eucharist and the role of the priest, Francis’ predecessor concludes that the priesthood involves an “ontological abstinence” and that “the ability to renounce marriage belongs entirely to the Lord being available has become a criterion of priestly ministry”.
This work by a pope who, during his pontificate, had made it a point to separate his work as a theologian from the papal magisterium, was not planned after his resignation in 2013. “When I announced my resignation on February 11, 2013 from the office of successor to Peter, I had no intention of what I would do in my new situation,” explains Benedict XVI. in the short foreword that introduces the text. I was too tired to plan other work. »
But the then Pope Emeritus says he “slowly resumed (his) theological work” after the election of Pope Francis. “A number of small and medium-sized contributions have emerged over the years. They are presented in this volume. »