Encyclicals

Widely recognized as one of the most talented and respected journalists in Rome, Paul Badde offers here a unique glimpse into the drama of Pope Benedict's pontificate. He doesn't simply capture the various reasons for which Benedict XVI will go down in history, Badde chronicles the almost superhuman struggle against overwhelming hostilities that formed against this shy and exceedingly kind man.

With fascinating vignettes back into history, you'll learn how Pope Benedict's experiences in a totalitarian Germany impacted the papacy and the Church, and how this son of a policeman became the "Thomas Aquinas of our time" one of the most brilliant and accomplished minds on the globe.

Leaning on his own personal conversations with Pope Benedict as well as his extensive interviews with those within the Holy Father's inner circle, Badde explains how Pope Benedict dealt with the blows and calumnies that rained down on him during those tempestuous eight years.

Inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, "Brothers and Sisters All" invites every Christian to be a Good Samaritan‚"‚€‚"to embrace and care for others with a humble and open heart. Pope Francis challenges us to rise above the isolation and discouragement that is so prevalent in our world today and to set our sights on Christ's call to love one another deeply and sacrificially.

No one is disposable, Pope Francis reminds us, and every person is endowed with dignity as a daughter or and son of God. This truth allows us to acknowledge, appreciate, and love each person. It also allows us to meet people in their place of suffering‚"‚€‚"whether it be the physical suffering of hunger or exploitation, or the unseen suffering of loneliness

Noticing how often the new Pope had the topic of "joy" as the central theme of his many addresses, Murphy delved into the vast writings of the Pope, before and after his election to the papacy, and found that the theme of joy has pervaded all of his theology. Recognizing the Pope's invitation to joy as a key to understanding his basic theological vision, Murphy develops those ideas and writings in a creative way, and helps the reader to engage personally with the original and pastoral mind of Joseph Ratzinger, professor, pastor, and now Pope Benedict XVI.

This joy is nothing other than the joy of the Christian faith. Indeed, the "first word of the New Testament," says Pope Benedict XVI, "is an invitation to joy." The Gospel of Jesus Christ, he insists, is not a burdensome imposition but is truly "glad tidings" for mankind. Christianity is the key to true and lasting joy, the only joy that abides in the midst of life's anxieties and difficulties.

Written in a clear and engaging style, this book argues that joy is central to all of Pope Benedict's thought. All the other great themes of the Christian faith are intimately connected with it and radiate out from it. The world is in need of hearing once again the message of joy which Jesus Christ makes known.

For priests, religious and laity who are concerned with presenting the Christian message in a positive, attractive and convincing way, as well as for all who wish to delve into the rich and exciting thought of Pope Benedict XVI, one of the most inspiring Christian thinkers of recent decades, this timely book will provide insight for personal reflection, preaching and teaching.

After meditating on the Apostles and then on the Fathers of the early Church, as seen in his earlier works Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church and Church Fathers, Pope Benedict XVI devoted his attention to the most influential Christian men from the fifth through the twelfth centuries. In his first book, Church Fathers, Benedict began with Clement of Rome and ended with Saint Augustine. In this volume, the Holy Father reflects on some of the greatest theologians of the Middle Ages: Benedict, Anselm, Bernard, and Gregory the Great, to name just a few. By exploring both the lives and the ideas of the great popes, abbots, scholars and missionaries who lived during the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christendom, Pope Benedict XVI highlights the key elements of Catholic dogma and practice that remain the foundation stones not only of the Roman Catholic Church but of Christian society itself. This book is a wonderful way to get to know these later Church Fathers and Teachers and the tremendous spiritually rich patrimony they have bequeathed to us.

"Without this vital sap, man is exposed to the danger of succumbing to the ancient temptation of seeking to redeem himself by himself."
-- Pope Benedict XVI

"Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II, was a man whose life was the expression of a richly textured and multidimensional soul. The many layers of that soul took on their first, mature form in Kraków." - George Weigel

In this beautifully illustrated spiritual travelogue, New York Times bestselling author George Weigel leads readers through the historic streets of Kraków, Poland, introducing one of the world's great cities through the life of one of the most influential Catholic leaders of all time.

"To follow Karol Wojtyla through Kraków is to follow an itinerary of sanctity while learning the story of a city." Weigel writes. "Thus, in what follows, the story of Karol Wojtyla, St. John Paul II, and the story of Kraków are interwoven in a chronological pilgrimage through the life of a saint that reveals, at the same time, the dramatic history and majestic culture of a city where a boy grew into a man, priest, a bishop--and an apostle to the world."

With stunning photographs by Stephen Weigel and notes on the city's remarkable fabric by Carrie Gress, City of Saints offers an in-depth look at a man and a city that made an indelible impression on the life and thought of the Catholic Church and the 21st century world.

Their teachings and insights not only brought peace and understanding to the Church of their time, but continue to anchor the Church of today. They brought clarity to the fragments and simplicity to the complex.

They used speeches, documents, poems, and songs to reach the people of their time. Now Pope Benedict XVI explores the lives and significance of thirty-two of the Doctors of the Church like no one else can. Taken directly from the pope's addresses in his weekly audiences, Doctors of the Church is an incredible journey through time to better understand these individuals who explored and explained the critical questions of the Church.

---Who is Christ?

---How do we know Christ?

---How do we act as Christ's disciples?

---How are we in Christ?

The Catholic Church faces a major crisis and the turmoil in priestly ministry is at the heart of it. "The priesthood is going through a dark time," write Pope Emeritus Benedict and Cardinal Robert Sarah. "Wounded by the revelation of so many scandals, disconcerted by the constant questioning of their consecrated celibacy, many priests are tempted by the thought of giving up and abandoning everything."

In this book, Pope Emeritus Benedict and Cardinal Robert Sarah give their brother priests and the whole Church a message of hope. They honestly address the spiritual challenges faced by priests today, including struggles of celibacy. They point to deeper conversion to Jesus Christ as the key to faithful and fruitful priestly ministry and church reform.

From the Depths of Our Hearts is an unprecedented work by the Pope Emeritus and a Cardinal serving in the Vatican. As bishops, they write "in a spirit of filial obedience" to Pope Francis, who has said, "I think that celibacy is a gift for the Church... I don't agree with allowing optional celibacy, no."

Responding to calls for refashioning the priesthood, including proposals from the Amazonian Synod, two wise, spiritually astute pastors explain the biblical and spiritual role of the priesthood, celibacy, and genuine priestly ministry. Drawing on Vatican II, they present priestly celibacy as more than "a mere precept of ecclesiastical law". They insist that renewal of the Church is bound to a renewed understanding of priestly vocation as sharing in Jesus' priestly identity as Bridegroom of the Church.

This is a book whose crucial message is for clergy and laity alike.

"This book is . . . my personal search 'for the face of the Lord.'"--Benedict XVI

In this bold, momentous work, the Pope seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from today's "popular" depictions and to restore his true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the Pope incites us to encounter Jesus face to face.

From Jesus of Nazareth ". . . the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book: But what has Jesus really brought, then, if he has not brought world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God! He has brought the God who once gradually unveiled his countenance first to Abraham, then to Moses and the prophets, and then in the wisdom literature-the God who showed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the peoples of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about where we are going and where we come from: faith, hope, and love."

Pope John Paul II was a great defender of truly vulnerable human beings throughout his life, affirming their personhood consistently and powerfully. In John Paul II on the Vulnerable, Jeffrey Tranzillo provides a lucid introduction to John Paul II's philosophical and theological understanding of the human person. Unlike other writings on the topic, Tranzillo's explicit aim is to highlight an aspect of John Paul's work that has been largely neglected until now. He shows convincingly that John Paul's seminal reflections on the human being as a personal agent progressed over time to include human beings at even the most vulnerable stages of development or decline. With this advance in thought, the pontiff began to declare eloquently that the vulnerable are capable of contributing to and enriching the human community through their activity.

An engaging overview of John Paul II's life, thought, and work introduces the book and provides readers with helpful background material. It shows that John Paul's interest in, and lofty regard for, the human person is rooted in his strong Catholic faith and in the extraordinary life experiences that he interpreted in its light. Following this is an examination of his principal works on the human person, emphasizing their implications for vulnerable human beings as persons and actors. Tranzillo considers this theme in the light of selected Christological texts of John Paul II and then reflects on John Paul's portrayal of the vulnerable in his social encyclicals and Evangelium Vitae. A final chapter develops the anthropological underpinnings of John Paul's thought on the radically vulnerable and their personal agency.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jeffrey Tranzillo received his Ph.D. in systematic theology from the Catholic University of America and has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK: