The extent of the legacy left to us by each pontificate can only be fully known a good while after each pope has passed away.
Now, two years later, a collection of previously unpublished homilies by Pope Benedict XVI has come to light.
They are being published in a book titled, God Is the True Reality. It is the second volume, and its presentation at the Vatican featured the former Vatican spokesperson Federico Lombardi and Pope Benedict’s longtime secretary, Georg Gänswein.
GEORG GÄNSWEIN
I spoke about a key lens through which to read Pope Benedict’s theological work, and these three words are precisely three key words. Reality means that reality is not only what we see, what we touch, what we can do; reality is much deeper, much higher. The true reality is God Himself, and only by seeing God can we also have a clear and realistic vision. With God, reality changes for the better.
The volume, published by the Vatican Publishing House, contains 82 sermons that Pope Benedict XVI delivered during his papal ministry and also after his resignation in February of 2013.
GEORG GÄNSWEIN
To understand properly the theology or the theological work of Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict, it is important to find the right key for interpretation. And the right key—which may surprise you—is his personal life. It is not a theological theorem; it is precisely his life. The unity between doing theology and living what he preaches, what he has preached, what he has written—this is all one single unity.
The issue of spiritual emptiness, the lack of a well-formed or “trained” conscience, and various concepts such as purity or goodness are only some of the themes that Ratzinger reflected on in these homilies, now accessible through the latest release, God Is the True Reality.
CRT
