Robed in Virtue?
Robed in Virtue?
A biography of the new Pope
By Ernest Barteldes
When Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was announced last Spring as successor of the late Karol Wojtila, the man the world knew as John Paul II, the Catholic world was divided: how would the man who was, for over 20 years, the Grand Inquisitor of the Roman Catholic Church become the shepherd of a flock that has become polarized to an almost unbearable level in the past two decades?
In this low-key biography, German-born Vatican journalist H.J. Fischer, who has known Joseph Ratzinger since his days as a bishop back in their native land, says that there are no easy answers to this question.
He describes the career of the current Pope from his early beginnings as a professor of theology through his work during the Second Vatican Council all the way to the days that led to his election to the throne of Peter.
He also narrates, in an almost defensive tone, Ratzinger's quest to annihilate the ideals of Liberation Theology, a leftist political movement that found its growth under the oppression of South American dictatorships and found a voice with Brazilian priest Leonardo Boff, who ultimately left the Church after being constantly censored and harassed by Rome.
Ratzinger is known for his personal charm, and the author has doubtless been influenced by it. (Ratzinger has remained friends with many Church critics, like heterodox German theorlogian Hans Kung, whom he has been charged with censoring.) Nonetheless, despite the partiality that the author might have with the current Pope, the reader must not assume that this long relationship with him makes the writer uncritical. He writes, for example, that:
"The Catholic Church has painted itself into a corner with a number of its own decisions, and I cannot really see it living with the same complaints, year in and year out." Such a realization comes with the fact that Benedict XVI cannot even try to be a carbon copy, or a "follower" of the policies of John Paul II. The need for change is evident, and it is the Pope's responsibility, the author feels, to address these needs to the best of his ability.
But will that happen? Fischer seems optimistic about it, even though he is adamant, throughout the book, that the Catholic Church has to adhere to its values and often impose them, as is the case of their position with abortion and priestly celibacy-positions that the writer himself seems reluctant to take any position on.
Readers should approach this book as a first step toward an understanding of the current Pope, a highly intellectual and contradictory man. It is definitely not, as the cover states, a "definitive biography" of Benedict XVI, but a journalistic essay on the man who became Pope with an analysis of what might come to be. As such, it is recommended reading for Catholics or anyone who has any interest in the "backstage" scene of the Vatican.