Why did Joseph Ratzinger come up with the name "Benedict" so quickly when he was asked what name he wanted to be called by following his election to the papacy? If reports are accurate, he said "Benedict" quite fast.
Of course, he’d had time to think about it as he saw which way the votes were trending over the four ballots of this conclave, and that gave him at least a little time to prepare mentally.
But was there anything rumbling in his mind in the background that set the stage for his choice?–something that he had already been thinking about when the conclave began?
It seems so.
B16 has a new book coming out:
Pope Benedict XVI rails against Europe in his first book published since becoming pope, chastising a culture that he says excludes God from life and allows innocent lives – the unborn – to be taken from God through legalized abortion.
“The Europe of Benedict: In the crisis of cultures” was written when the pope was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican’s guardian of doctrine, and serves as a strong indication of issues that will be priorities in his pontificate.
(CHT to the reader who e-mailed!)
Will he continue writing books as Pope, or will he choose to express himself through Encyclicals and what not? He is such a distinguished individual theologian, he might decide not to confuse the Bishopric of Rome with his work as a private theologian.
Or, perhaps he will decide to continue to publish his private writings under his own name of “Joseph Ratzinger” to distinguish them from papal documents….
(Not that I think this is really likely. It’s just wishful thinking.)
I can’t wait till it comes out in English!
Hey people! I found this article on the Drudge report of all places