Last Testament (in His Own Words)

By (author) Benedict XVI, Pope; By (author) Seewald Peter
Short description/annotation
In this most touching and revealing book - the nearest Benedict will ever get to writing an autobiography - the author speaks with disarming honesty and humility of his inner life, his life of prayer and his firm belief in God.
Description
Pope Benedict XVI, the only modern-day Pope to retire whilst in office, now finally breaks his silence. Since retiring from the papacy in 2013, the first Pope in over 700 years to do so, Pope Benedict has lived quietly in a convent in the Vatican gardens in Rome. He has devoted himself to a life of prayer and study and has vowed to remain silent, until now. So much controversy still surrounds Pope Benedict’s time in office. In this book, written with bestselling German author Peter Seewald, he addresses the issues of his papacy and reveals how, at his late age, governing and reforming the Church was beyond him. Last Testament is also an autobiography, recalling Pope Benedict’s childhood in Germany under Nazism, his early development as a priest, and eventually his appointment as Archbishop of Munich. After becoming Pope, his account deals with the controversies that rocked the Catholic world: how he enraged Muslims with his Regensburg speech, what he did and did not do to stamp out the clerical sexual abuse of children, the ‘Vatileaks’ scandal and how he broke up a gay cabal within the Vatican itself. At all times, we see a man who is shy and retiring and modest being exceptionally open and frank with the outside world. In this Last Testament, a unique book insofar as no other living Pope has had the opportunity to write an account having left office, Benedict gives in his own words an unprecedented view of the difficulties, the achievements and the consequences of his time as head of the Catholic Church worldwide.
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To my mind this is the most sincere interview which Benedict XVI has given. It covers a variety of topics: from when and why the future pope played with a doll at seminary, through how he met Romano Guardini, the Italian-born German Catholic priest ... and why he needed humiliation when he failed with his academic dissertation, to finally why and when he decided to resign from the Cathedra Petri ... It is gripping from the very beginning ... An exquisite conversation between two people who know each other, like each other, and have mutual respect for one another ... A fantastic book which should not be overlooked by any open-minded Catholic who wishes to learn from our great tradition but also wants to progress with the Church.
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The most revealing book yet on Benedict XVI ... Seewald has gathered in perhaps the finest harvest yet. For more than a decade I have read everything I can about Benedict XVI, but I was amazed by the revelations in this new book.
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For students of Benedict’s theology, and of the history of the Catholic Church in the second half of the 20th century, this will doubtless be an invaluable book.
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Joseph Ratzinger has certainly been a great theologian ... Last Testament [is] revealing about who this underrated man really is ... He bears comparison with the greatest doctors of the Church
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Throughout there are moments of breathtaking candor, as when [Pope Benedict XVI] reveals that it felt like "a guillotine" when he learned the outcome of the cardinals'' ballots that elected him pope in 2005. Even in passages without such striking revelations, it''s stunning to realize you''re reading the inner thoughts – and confessions – of a former pope now speaking without the weight of that papal mantle ... The portrait here is one that deepens and defends the place of Benedict in history
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A beautiful portrait of a brilliant and incisive thinker and a holy and contemplative discipl