Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age

by Vincent Twomey

Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, a former doctoral student of Joseph Ratzinger and long time friend of the Pope, felt the need to respond to the common question he heard often after the papal election, "What kind of person is the new Pope?" So often Twomey had read false depictions of both the man and his thought, especially the image presented by the media as a grim enforcer. Twomey offers here a unique double–presentation of the man, Pope Benedict XVI ― a theological portrait that encompasses both an overview of the writings, teachings and thought of the brilliant theologian and spiritual writer, as well as the man himself, and his personality traits and how he communicates with others. Twomey shows that the secret to the serene dignified behavior of Benedict is that he is open to beauty as much as truth, that he lives outside himself, and is not preoccupied with his own self. He also is a man that Twomey says "has the courage to be imperfect", showing he has a deep humility and strives for teaching the truth even when misunderstood or not presented as well as he would like.

Genres: Religion

220 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2007

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was disappointing. I was hoping that the book would have lived up to its title, describing why Pope Benedict is the conscience of our age. Other than a brief description of Benedict's view of conscience this book does little to show why he is "the conscience of our age." This book tries to do too much in such a slim volume. It attempts to give a biography of the pope's theology, yet it does not do it well. At times the discussion is much too deep for the overview and at other times the material is merely glossed over. There are some good nuggets of information contained in these pages, but the book is not worth the few nuggets to be learned.