Pope Benedict

For those who know little of the man or the background to the new Pope, this is an excellent introduction. Into this small book, Greg Watts has packed a lot of information; he gives a brief biography of Joseph Ratzinger from childhood, through the war years, to Seminary, brief Parish life and becoming an academic Theologian. He sets the scene for Vatican II and explains how Ratzinger came to attend. In 1977 how Ratzinger became an Archbishop and a Cardinal and how in 1981 Pope John Paul appointed him to become the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and it is in this role that many of us have read of him in the newspapers. Greg Watts takes us through many of the events that reached the headlines, giving the facts, and their background. The picture of Pope Benedict XVI that emerges, is of a very clever, a very wise man, faithfully carrying out what he prayerfully believes is right...

I Believe in One God, The Creed Explained with a foreword By the late George Cardinal Pell. Drawing on the rich heritage of homilies, catechesis and speeches of Benedict XVI, this book covers the basic contents of the Christian Faith. In the perspective of the Year of Faith, the Pope leads us to revive and deepen the Christian truths, offering a good opportunity to begin that journey of knowledge, conversion and prayer to which the Church calls us in this year of grace. A book dedicated to all Christians, written in a clear and direct language and designed to help them better live their faith...

On the world stage and in the life of the Catholic Church, John Paul II became known as the Great Mercy Pope — devoting his second encyclical to God’s mercy, forgiving his would-be assassin, making Sr. Faustina, the great apostle of Divine Mercy, a saint and establishing Divine Mercy Sunday as a universal feast day in the Church. Now, more than three years into his own papacy, his successor, Benedict XVI, has become known as a Pope of Mercy in his own right. He opened the first ever World Apostolic Congress on Mercy in Rome last April and at its conclusion called the participants to “go forth and be witnesses of God’s mercy.” Further, during a pastoral visit to Poland in 2006, this Pope of Mercy called the sick to be “eloquent witnesses God’s mercy” and said he was passing on the “Flame of Mercy” to the youth he met. Discover in Pope Benedict’s Divine Mercy Mandate, how the Holy Father spoke of receiving a gift of Divine Mercy when he was elected Pope in 2005 and how he then stresse..