Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, have co-authored a book on the crisis in the Church and on priestly ministry.
From the Depths of Our Hearts will be published in English by Ignatius Press. It can now be pre-ordered, and it is due to ship Feb. 20.
The work “is not just about priestly celibacy, important as that is in itself,” Fr. Joseph Fessio, founder and editor of Ignatius Press, said. “It is about, as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI describes it in his first paragraph: ‘the lasting crisis that the priesthood has been going through for many years.’ But it is about more than that; it is about the nature of the Church and of Christian discipleship….”
The publisher added that the book is in part a response “to calls for refashioning the priesthood, including proposals from the Amazonian Synod.”
Some voices at the October 2019 synod made a case for the priestly ordination of married men in the Amazon region, ostensibly as a response to a lack of vocations….
Cardinal Sarah, along with Cardinal Peter Turkson and others, had urged from the synod floor that the Church’s discipline of priestly celibacy in the Amazon region be maintained.
Priestly celibacy has also been questioned by the “binding synodal process” undertaken by the Church in Germany….
The above comes from a Jan. 12 story on the Catholic News Agency website.
Looking forward to reading this excellent book!
Looking forward to reading this excellent book! Pope Francis also has reaffirmed the importance of priestly celibacy.
I just found out that there was a big error with this book— and Pope Benedict had his name removed, as a co-author!! What a shame, that this error occured! Not good for our Church– scandalous! What does Fr. Fessio say, at Ignatius Press??
Here is a post which says that B XVI’s secretary was called to the papal offices and told to have B XVI’s name removed. With so much hearsay, this may answer the question posed to Fr. Fessio https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2020/01/socci-backstory-here-is-what-went-on.html
When Ratzinger resigned the pontificate, he promised to be silent forever. If I were the Pope, I’d be furious too.
While I think everyone is of the best intentions among Sarah, Ratzinger, and the Pope, this mixup was bound to happen as soon as Ratzinger began writing public letters about theology and Church discipline.
For the good of the Church, Ratzinger should renounce the title Pope Emeritus because of the confusion it creates, cease using his papal name of Benedict, and return to a very honorific title: Josef Cardinal Ratzinger. There in only honor in that title and that decision.
All he is doing is begging for a sequel to the Academy Award nominated film The Two Popes.
“When Ratzinger resigned the pontificate, he promised to be silent forever If I were the Pope, I’d be furious too..” For the record, Pope Francis has always affirmed publicly support for mandatory celibacy, even though his actions and those of his key men tell another story. Therefore the book can rightfully be said to be supportive of Pope Francis, and Francis, if his words were sincere, would have no reason to be furious, but justifiably grateful for this publication. That he was furious with Benedict only shows Francis’ words do not match his real state of mind. And YFC, this fury blows the thesis of The Two Popes to pieces, don’t you think? It make the producers of that movie look like fools.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-mueller-benedict-xvi-could-not-keep-silent-because-he-saw-the-danger
Cardinal Müller explains that there is one pope, Francis, but Benedict XVI is a bishop emeritus and should speak
“while the Roman Pontiff is the “principle of unity in the Church … all bishops, even emeriti, participate as such in the Magisterium of the Church together have the responsibility for the depositum fidei.”
This entire kerfuffle points out a larger issue, i.e., there is only ONE Pope and his name is Francis. Josef Ratzinger is the Emeritus Bishop of Rome:
https://religionnews.com/2020/01/13/two-popes-are-one-too-many/
Two popes are one too many
Fr. Perozich– thanks for this very shocking news article! Broke my heart! Where is the honesty in the Church, on such an important and sensitive topic?? What are the views of Fr. Fessio, at Ignatius Press?? The Amazon Synod and its report were crooked! Millions of fine young Catholic men would be eager to study for the priesthood– under an excellent Pope, in a fine Church– not a crooked and dishonest one!
Pope Francis to Emeritus Pope Benedict: “et tu Benedict!” There is a reason the modern Church has only one Pope – the barque of St Peter can only have one Captain. When Pope Benedict stepped down, he reportedly shared he wanted to live a private life of prayer and not interfere with Pope Francis. He should not interfere with the Holy Father – after all, Pope Feancis has graciously allowed Pope Benedict to continue to live at the Vatican!