Product Description

This book is the only existing biography of Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Aloysius Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in southern Bavaria. Comprehensive in scope and intimate in content, it provides a vivid blow-by-blow of the controversies that have wracked the Catholic Church during the past twenty years: Liberation theology, birth control, women's ordination, inclusive language, "radical feminism," homosexuality, religious pluralism, human rights in the church, and the roles of bishops and theologians. One man has stood at the dead center of all these controversial issues: Joseph Ratzinger. A teenage American POW as the Third Reich crumbled and a progressive wunderkind at the Second Vatican Council, Ratzinger, for twenty years, has been head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (until 1908 known as the Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, or Holy Office). The book goes a long way toward explaining the central enigma surrounding Ratzinger: How did this erstwhile liberal end up as the chief architect of the third great wave of repression in Catholic theology in the twentieth century? Based on extensive interviews with Ratzinger's students and colleagues, as well as research in archives in both Bavaria and the United States, Allen's account shows that Ratzinger's deep suspicion of "the world," his preoccupation with human sinfulness, and his demand for rock-solid loyalty to the church run deep. They reach into his childhood "in the shadow of the Nazis" and reflect his formative theological influences: Augustine, Bonaventure, and Martin Luther rather than the world-affirming Thomas Aquinas. In his words, Ratzinger affirms that “What the church needs today as always are not adulators to extol the status quo, but men whose humility and obedience are not less than their passion for the truth; . . .men who love the church more than the ease and the unruffled course of their personal destiny."-Joseph Ratzinger (1962)>

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1459261 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-04
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.14 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Booklist
Widely considered a conservative "enforcer of the faith," Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger may be the most important figure in the Catholic Church's rightward turn under John Paul II, and he will have major influence in the conclave that elects the next pope. Allen traces Ratzinger from his Bavarian boyhood "in Hitler's shadow," through a distinguished if stormy theological career and a rapid rise in the hierarchy, to his current position as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Allen responds to Ratzinger's recollections (e.g., Milestones , 1998) by carefully attending to documentary evidence and thus forges a balanced depiction of him. Ratzinger's experience of the radical student movement, Allen argues, affected his change from being generally progressive to conservatism. That conservatism shows tellingly in Ratzinger's relations with theological colleagues and his battles against liberation and feminist theologies. Ratzinger, Allen notes, has been a polarizing figure, dismissed without a hearing by the Left and embraced uncritically by the Right. Allen's careful reading facilitates more responsibly interpreting Ratzinger's probable influence beyond this papacy. \plain\f0\fs17 Steven Schroeder
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Review
“…this book is the first biography of Ratzinger in English, and probably the only one written prior to the papal election of 2005…the book is an excellent introduction to the underlying theological concerns of Ratzinger in his role as prefect of the CDF…this book is also an excellent historical survey of the division and controversies that have divided the Catholic church, especially in North America, in the post-conciliar world.” –Catholic Books Review, 2005 (Catholic Books Review )

'A fair and unfailingly interesting account of one of the most controversial figures in religion today' The Irish Times

'Elegantly written and throughout its eight chapters engages one's interest. It never indulges in facile stereotypes. While being critical, Allen fully respects Ratzinger's stature as a theologian and intellectual. With verve, he traces the formation of one of the most controversial prelates in recent times' The Furrow

'We needed a book which was well researched, informative and analytic, adequately critical, yet thoroughly and determinedly fair. John Allen has given us just such a book - The Tablet

'It is not just because of the position he has occupied since 1981 as head of what used to be the Holy Office that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is a key figure in the development of the Roman Catholic Church since Vatican II. John L. Allen puts us all in his debt by tracing how this has come about. The resulting book is essential reading.' Church Times

"Full of important information about Ratzinger's career and changes of position...his most original contribution is to argue that Ratzinger sometimes promotes views even more conservative than the Pope's." --The New York Review of Books (New York Review Of Books )

"A terrific writer who is well informed in theology and church history, Allen skillfully navigates the ideological and political controversies of the last 20th-century church." --Publishers Weekly (New York Review Of Books )

"Full of important information about Ratzinger's career and changes of position…his most original contribution is to argue that Ratzinger sometimes promotes views even more conservative than the Pope's." --The New York Review of Books (New York Review Of Books )

Pacifica, June 2001
"Provides a useful overview of Catholic debates in recent decades and highlights many problems that still need attention."