Pope Benedict XVI Books

Joseph Ratzinger's book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week, is a pivotal resource for modern believers to help them understand and appreciate the life of Jesus Christ. In this highly engaging work, Pope Benedict XVI offers an insightful and informed examination of the biblical accounts of Jesus' story in order to help us create an authentic picture of Jesus' physical being, his motivations, and his place in the world we live in today. Through careful consideration and a commitment to accuracy, Rat...

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 an...

The New York Times bestselling final volume in the Pope’s Jesus of Nazareth series, detailing how the stories of Jesus’ infancy and childhood are as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago.In 2007, Joseph Ratzinger published his first book as Pope Benedict XVI in order “to make known the figure and message of Jesus.” Now, the Pope focuses exclusively on the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life as a child. The root of these stories is the experience of hope found in the birth of Jesus and...

Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism to the Transfiguration is an essential book for any student of faith, history, and philosophy. This book offers a rigorous scholarly approach and passionate insight into the life and legacy of Jesus Christ. Pope emeritus Benedict XVI weaves together faith with scholarship, offering meaningful truths about Jesus’ life, ministry and through his compassionate lens as a faithful pastor. This comprehensive guide will present a thoughtful investigation on who was...

One of Cardinal Ratzinger's most important and widely read books, this volume is a revised second edition with an improved translation and an in-depth 20 page preface by the Cardinal. As he states in the preface, since this book was first published over 30 years ago, many changes and significant events have occurred in the world, and in the Church. But even so, he says he is firmly convinced that his fundamental approach in this book is still very timely and crucial for the spiritual needs of...

For the first time ever, the story of Pope Benedict XVI’s historic resignation is being chronicled in his own words - with Last Testament: In His Own Words. This one-of-a-kind book provides a unique insight into the thoughts and experiences of one of the most influential religious leaders of our time. Drawing from an unprecedented series of interviews with Peter Seewald, Pope Benedict speaks candidly about his life before and during his papacy and gives an intimate look at topics such as corr...

"We are workers with you for your joy," states St. Paul, "because you stand firm in the faith." These words, declared Pope Benedict XVI in a 2008 ordination homily, are the very program of the priesthood. To fulfill this program, he told the ordinandi, "the fire of the Gospel must burn within you and the joy of the Lord dwell in you. Only then will you be able to be messengers and multipliers of this joy."Remarkably, the eight reflections of Ministers of Your Joy antedate that homily by thirt...

In this beautifully illustrated book, Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) gives us profound meditations on what our life in Christ should be like as it is lived through the various Seasons and Feasts of the liturgical year. This book also includes thoughts on other spiritual and secular themes such as the true nature of peace, why it is difficult for so many to experience joy, the relationship between spirit and matter, vacation and rest, etc. These inspiring insights from the man who became...

"Seek out the Lord and his might; constantly seek his face." This concise admonition from the Book of Psalms captures the impetus of Seeking God's Face. In these meditations, Joseph Ratzinger reflects upon the major feasts and the Sundays of the year, inspired by Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the lives of the saints. The seasons of Advent and Christmas receive particular attention, with an address on the mystery of suffering, a sermon on the "Word Made Flesh," and a consideration of the ...

"The ecological movement discovered that 'nature' prescribes for us a moderation that we cannot ignore with impunity. Unfortunately, 'human ecology' has still not been made concrete. A human being, too, has a 'nature' that is prescribed for him, and violating or denying it leads to self-destruction."-- Benedict XVI, from the preface This collection of selected works is Benedict XVI's heartfelt call for Europe to rediscover its true origin and identity, in order to become once again a beacon o...

With this concise anthology of Benedict XVI's lessons on the Christian life--on faith, hope, love, joy, youth, holiness, and freedom--readers find themselves walking side by side with a great spiritual father."Benedict XVI", as Pope Francis reflects in the book's foreword, "knew how to bring heart and mind, thought and feeling, rationality and emotion in concert with one another--a fruitful model of how one can tell the world about the shattering power of the Gospel."The crystallized excerpts...

"Heart of the Christian Life: Thoughts on the Holy Mass" by Pope Benedict XVI gathers his profound reflections on the Eucharist's central role in Catholic faith. This collection, derived from addresses and homilies, emphasizes the Eucharist as the source of the Church’s life, unity, and fruitfulness. Pope Benedict XVI shares insights on the Eucharist’s power to draw believers into God's life and the communal body of Christ, urging the faithful to recognize the transformative potential of rece...

"What Is Christianity?: The Last Writings" by Pope Benedict XVI, edited by Elio Guerriero and Georg Gänswein, presents a comprehensive exploration of Christian faith's essence, its relationship with other religions, and its foundational beliefs. This posthumous work encapsulates Benedict XVI's profound theological insights on topics ranging from the liturgy and the priesthood to the challenges of modernity and the beauty of creation. It serves as a spiritual testament from one of the leading ...

Imagine some personal hours face to face with Pope Benedict XVI, one of the greatest Catholic thinkers and spiritual writers of the twentieth century. In this slim volume, hundreds of short quotations and sayings taken from Benedict's papal writings, addresses, and homilies have been classified by the Christian virtues of which they speak, and then categorized according to the mysteries of the Rosary and the great themes of prayer, the Church, the Mass, the papacy, Sacred Scripture, the pries...

Is truth knowable? If we know the truth, must we hide it in the name of tolerance? Cardinal Ratzinger engages the problem of truth, tolerance, religion and culture in the modern world. Describing the vast array of world religions, Ratzinger embraces the difficult challenge of meeting diverse understandings of spiritual truth while defending the Catholic teaching of salvation through Jesus Christ. "But what if it is true?" is the question that he poses to cultures that decry the Christian posi...

"Having faith in the Lord is not something that involves solely our intelligence, the area of intellectual knowledge; rather, it is a change that involves our life, our whole self: feelings, heart, intelligence, will, corporeity, emotions, and human relationships. With faith everything truly changes." So Pope Benedict XVI introduced his catecheses for the Year of Faith, a series of sixteen talks given at his weekly audience from October 2012 to the end of his papacy in February 2013. These ta...