Ratzinger Report
Encyclopedia
The Ratzinger Report is the name given to a long series of interviews, collected over several days, that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger gave to the Italian journalist Vittorio Messori
in 1985, which discussed the state of the Roman Catholic Church
after the Second Vatican Council
.
The Report was very critical of the hermeneutic of rupture associated with the liberal spirit of Vatican II within the Church. It has been often re-read in the context of the current papacy of Benedict XVI, in order to correctly understand the mind and the thinking of the Sovereign pontiff.
Vittorio Messori
Vittorio Messori is an Italian journalist and writer. According to Sandro Magister, a Vaticanist, he is the "most translated Catholic writer in the world."-Life:...
in 1985, which discussed the state of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
after the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
.
The Report was very critical of the hermeneutic of rupture associated with the liberal spirit of Vatican II within the Church. It has been often re-read in the context of the current papacy of Benedict XVI, in order to correctly understand the mind and the thinking of the Sovereign pontiff.
Topics discussed
- The true Spirit and letter of Vatican II
- The Church as God's Church, not the laity Church
- The nature of the priesthood
- The papacy, the episcopacy, and the role of bishops' conferences.
- Liberalism, relativism and the permissiveness of modern society
- The role of women
- Six reasons not to forget the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Spirituality for today
- The dignity of the liturgy, the eucharist as the heart of faith, and the difference between solemnity and triumphalism
- The devil, the angels, purgatory, and limbo
- Ecumenism and Christian unity
- Liberation theology, Marxism and capitalism
- Evangelization and why Jesus is the only Savior