Benedict XVI: the theologian who became pope

"Every time I read the works of Joseph Ratzinger, it becomes clear to me that he pursued theology ‘on his knees’ and still does: on his knees, because we see that he is not only a preeminent theologian and master of the faith, but a man who really believes, really prays. We see that he is a man who embodies holiness, a man of peace, a man of God," wrote Pope Francis in the preface to a collection of homilies by the late Pope Emeritus.

As a pope against his wishes, Ratzinger had to abandon his cherished studies to serve the Church in a different way. This did not prevent the pope from remaining a theologian, continuing his research in spite of his pastoral duties, even in retirement. His triptych on Jesus is the most notable demonstration of this, signed by both Ratzinger and Benedict XVI, and thus open to theological disputation. The prospect of being entrusted with the helm of a Church that was taking on water frightened him. When John Paul II died, Cardinal Ratzinger secretly hoped to be able to retire to his native Bavaria to continue his work as a theologian, between his piano and his library. At 78, his election propelled the then-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the head of the Church, which was then shaken by history and modernity. More theologian than pastor, his intellectual power and sense of duty made him a pope who, at the risk of sometimes being misunderstood, leaves an impressive doctrinal legacy.

Expert at the Council

The entire life of Benedict XVI will be marked by this tension between his aspiration to research and his service as a pastor. Ordained a priest in the immediate post-war period, he was soon appointed professor at the Freising seminary in 1952. A specialist in Saint Augustine and the Franciscan theologian Saint Bonaventure, he began his academic career in 1958, teaching theology in Freising, Bonn, Münster, Tübingen and Regensburg. Pursuing his research under the influence of Romano Guardini and the Jesuit Henri de Lubac, he developed an ecclesiology nourished by the Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church. A theologian at heart, as well as a university student, he was nevertheless very early on in the corridors of ecclesial power. During the Second Vatican Council, the young theologian was an expert and theological advisor to Cardinal Frings, Archbishop of Cologne: he was only 35 years old. In a twist of history, the future prefect Ratzinger worked on the revision of the Holy Office, which became the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith after Vatican II, which he directed for a quarter century. In the wake of the Council, he was considered a reformer. In 1968, however, he was less confident about the Council's orientations, especially with regard to the liturgical reform of Pope Paul VI. The student movements of May destabilized him. On the other hand, his fine and complex thinking sometimes confused his interlocutors: faithful to Vatican II, he never stopped showing that the council was not in discontinuity with tradition, which makes this supporter of the tradition pass for a conservative.

This did not prevent him, to his great surprise, from being appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977. He was created a cardinal by Paul VI the same year. Although the new bishop did not hide his disappointment at seeing theological research go away, he invested himself with obstinacy in this diocesan office. In fact, from the time of his appointment until his retirement as pope emeritus, he carried out his pastoral responsibilities while participating tirelessly in theological reflection.

As archbishop, he quickly established himself as the doctrinal reference for the Church in Germany. This did not remain unnoticed by John Paul II who, in 1981, appointed Cardinal Ratzinger prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (now Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith), a central Vatican body whose mission is to "promote and protect doctrine and morals in conformity with the faith throughout the Catholic world", the new prelate emphasized. For nearly twenty-four years, the German cardinal held one of the most influential positions in the Curia and established himself as the rigorous guardian of dogma. The severity of the German cardinal's condemnation of both his former colleague and friend Hans Küng and Leonardo Boff, the initiator of liberation theology, earned him the nickname "Panzerkardinal", to which he replied that "goodness also implies the ability to say no". Although he was not yet on the front line, the closest collaborator of the Polish pope participated in the elaboration of the essential texts of Karol Wojtyla's long pontificate. Ratzinger also chaired the commission in charge of the new edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

“A dictatorship of relativism”

Passionate about teaching and a figure of authority and guardian of orthodoxy, Joseph Ratzinger was no less a poor communicator. Theological subtleties are difficult to combine with the media universe. Benedict XVI multiplied solid homilies and well-crafted speeches, but he also had to take care of public appearances, participate in World Youth Days… He was not, however, a theologian who was “out of touch” with the world: with John Paul II, and even more so once he became pope, he courageously and steadfastly tackled pedophilia in the Church, the revelation of which struck the institution at the dawn of the 21st century. This drama was compounded by several controversies: the VatiLeaks affair, the rapprochement with fundamentalists, and the faux pas with Islam during a speech given at the University of Regensburg on the relationship between reason and faith, which inflamed the Muslim world.

During the mass just before the opening of the 2005 conclave, which Cardinal Ratzinger presided over as dean of the cardinals, he evoked during the homily his fears for the Catholic Church in strong terms: “The small boat of the thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves - flung from one extreme to another: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and so forth. (…) Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. (…) We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive,” explained the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Far from giving up, the cardinal theologian was a few days later elected the 265th pope of the Catholic Church.

“Collaborator of the truth”

At 78 years of age, governing the Church did not prevent him from pursuing his intellectual work tirelessly. Author of some fifty works, Ratzinger became pope and signed three major encyclicals (Deus caritas est in 2005; Spé salvi in 2007; Caritas in veritate in 2009), always combining intellectual rigor and good pedagogical and pastoral sense. This fine connoisseur of the habits and customs of the Curia would unfortunately not find the energy necessary to make it evolve. He gave up his pontifical seat in 2013 to the surprise of everyone: a first in centuries. Following his resignation in 2013, the pope emeritus lived in seclusion in the Vatican. Taking a vow of silence so as not to embarrass his successor, Benedict XVI finally spoke out on several occasions, in texts that were sometimes incomplete or instrumentalized, such as in the German clergy magazine, in 2019, about sexual assaults: “Catholic moral theology has suffered a collapse that has rendered the Church defenseless against these societal changes,” he sought to explain.

During his trip to France in September 2008, Benedict XVI confided his vision of the foundations of theology in his speech at the Bernardins: “the classic formulation of the Christian faith’s intrinsic need to make itself communicable to others, is a phrase from the First Letter of Peter (…): “Always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason (the logos) for the hope that you all have” (3:15).” Pope Ratzinger’s vocation as a theologian was summed up in his episcopal motto: “Collaborator of the truth.”