EUROPE/ITALY - “Benedictus”: a professor that places his intelligence at the service of modern man, that the truth may be known and acknowledged

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - “It would be rash to think of writing a biography of the Pope, especially in the case of Benedict XVI.” These were the words of Giuseppe De Carli, Vatican expert and head of Rai Vaticano, on the occasion of the presentation of his most recent book, “Benedictus, servus servorum Dei” (published by Velar, in collaboration with the Rai-ERI ed Elledici). “I hope that my work is at least considered among the works that help to shed light on the figure of Benedict XVI,” De Carli explained. A professor that places his intelligence at the service of modern man, an intellectual at heart: this is the Pope that the writer wishes to depict in his work, enriched with a large quantity of photos; an attempt to make the book almost a special edition magazine that opens a reflection on the figure of Ratzinger.
It is a figure whose continuity is clearly expressed by Archbishop Angelo Amato, Secretary for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, who worked for years with Cardinal Ratzinger. “There is a great continuity. What we now discover in the Pope, is really who Ratzinger was as Prefect for our Congregation.” There are many links between Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope Benedict XVI: intellectual clarity, passion for doctrine, simplicity in human relations, and humility. These are the characteristics of a man that as a boy wanted to become a Cardinal, and that over the course of his life have become what today guide his Magisterium: his spontaneous and radiant smile, his openness to dialogue and attention to the “little people,” the rationality of his speech, his love for the truth, and the effort to make the truth known and acknowledged.
While John Paul II is considered the Pope that “popped” the balloon, Benedict XVI is the Pope that seeks to explain the difficult concepts to all people, a man that “speaks to reason to reach the heart,” director of “Il Messaggero” Roberto Napoletano said during the event. The Holy Father, in an effort to overcome the relativism that is tearing apart our times, since before his election as Successor of Peter, has continually placed faith and reason in dialogue, himself inspired by a faith that enlightens reason, and a reason capable of enlightening faith.
Pope Benedict XVI is also the Pope of the love of God, one of the key elements needed (along with his great sense of culture) for a profound reading into his person, according to Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, so much so, that he has dedicated one of his encyclicals to love par excellence - charity. “A humble servant in the Lord’s vineyard,” as he himself affirmed in the moment of his election as Pope: a simple man, humble and timid, but extremely “of character” - as De Carli defines him - decided and reflexive, as Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Archpriest of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, described him. This past April 9, the book, whose preface was written by Bishop Rino Fisichella, Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, was presented to the Pope in a private audience. (PC) (Agenzia Fides 21/05/2008 righe 39, parole 525)