“The Lord calls me to climb the mountain, but that doesn’t mean to give up on the churchHe said this at the end of the Angelus Prayer of his Pontificate Benedict XVI He has kept his promise, and hasn’t let his voice fail nearly this decade after his landmark resignation. He did this above all by prayer and meditation, but also by writings and letters that pointed the right path to believers from all over the world and upheld the magisterium of the reigning Pope, Francis.

A few days ago a voice Pope Emeritus Heard again Through a letter dated October 7 It was announced on the occasion of the International Symposium X promoted by the Vatican Foundation, which is named after him. The conference was held under the title “The Eccleology of Joseph Ratzinger” and hosted at the US Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. It is no coincidence that Ratzinger directly addressed the institute’s president, Father Dave Pivonca in the letter which was read publicly by Father Federico Lombardi, former Director of the Holy See Press Office and currently President of the Foundation.

Taking pen and paper as the 60th anniversary of its opening approached, Ratzinger made some personal memories of the Second Vatican Council in which he participated as an expert for the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joseph Frings. “When I started studying theology in January 1946 – Benedict XVI books – No one thought of an ecumenical council. when dad John XXIII He proclaimed that, to everyone’s astonishment, there were many doubts as to whether it could have been important, even if the thoughts and questions could be organized into each congregational proclamation, thus giving the Church a direction for its future course.“.

But for Ratzinger, this new council has revealed itself over the years.”Not only meaningful, but necessary“Because for the first time some direct questions about life church. The Pope Emeritus remembers how the question of theology of religions was first raised, just as the topic that developed over the years even during the German papacy was first raised: the relationship between faith “and the immaculate world of reason.” The resistors Who met John XXIII for that initiative. According to the emeritus pope, it was precisely this unprecedented factor, because both subjects were not even foreseen. The reason, according to Benedict XVI, was that the Second Vatican Council was seen as an element that could “It disturbs and shakes the Church more than to give it new clarity to its message“.

Therefore, in Vatican II, ecclesiastical theology found its crown in the strict theological sense already defended by Ratzinger and which placed the emphasis on the centrality of the Eucharist rather than on a religious and overly centralized view. open luggage memoriesPope Emeritus, in this regard, recounted how his ecclesiastical work marked the state of the German Church in the years immediately following the First World War, in which ecclesiastical theology experienced a development with “The broader spiritual dimension of the concept of the Church is now joyfully realizedIn this key, Ratzinger can quote only one of his “professors”, Romano Guardini, for whom the essence of Christianity is not an idea but a person (Christ). A German theologian of Italian descent has sometimes been cited by FrancisWho is his big fan?

praise comingChurch Flag Of the company proposed by the magisterium of the assembly desired by Roncali, Ratzinger wrote in the letter that it was precisely within the Second Vatican Council the most important question, a question Church in the world“It has finally become the real central problem“. After this, Benedict XVI recalled all the stages of his teachings, and he wanted to warn of”The complete spirituality of the concept of the Church“who-that”It lacks the reality of faith and its institutions in the world“With these words, Benedict XVI wished the speakers at the symposium a good job in the hope that it might be possible.”To help fight for a just understanding of the church and the world in our timeFrom the mountain he ascended nearly ten years ago, the ninety-five-year-old Pope Emeritus continues not to abandon the church, as promised in that last angel in St Peter’s Square on February 24, 2013.