[.ca] Pope Benedict XVI: A Biography of Joseph Ratzinger (ISBN 0826417876)

The man who would become pope:
As one commentator has pointed out, this is not in fact a new book on the current pope, Benedict XVI, but rather a biography of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would succeed to the papacy in the spring of 2005. In the year 2000, when this book was published, Ratzinger had been working with Pope John Paul II for decades, and seemed in some ways to be reaching a point of retirement. John Allen, a veteran Vatican observer, noted in this text that the succession of Ratzinger was unlikely, even then. Perhaps that helps to add the ring of truth to Ratzinger's own words of gratitude and surprise after his election. Unlike several of the 'instant history' texts that appeared shortly after the papal election (and, to be fair, some are worthwhile; Allen himself produced one reasonable text entitled 'The Rise of Benedict XVI'), this one had a much longer timeframe for production. Allen was able to do a good amount of research and interviewing to get behind the public image of Ratzinger, variously called the Vatican Enforcer and God's Pit-Bull. Joseph Ratzinger is a difficult man to pin down in terms of ideology and spirituality. He grew up in the midst of Nazi oppression in Germany, and during the second world war was even pressed into service as a Hitler Youth (something which, by the time Ratzinger was old enough in the early 1940s, was compulsory for all boys in Germany). He reacted against this right-wing tyranny by embracing theological and academic liberalism; his early work is decidedly left-wing in many respects, as Allen points out. However, the shifts in the tide of international theological thought generally, and Roman Catholic thought and practice specifically, left Ratzinger adrift in some ways, a state his logical and organised mind would not tolerate. Ratzinger reconstructed his theology in such a way that is difficult to determine; it is very conservative in many respects, but is far from the knee-jerk style he is often accused of having, and it is far from being closed-minded (Benedict XVI's meeting with Hans Kung recently shows this openness and mind for inquiry). One of the drawbacks of this text is that Allen draws his own theological agenda in perhaps a bit further than an aiming-toward-objectivity history should display. Allen is to be given credit for his self-identification on many issues, but this serves to muddle the analysis a bit at times. Perhaps this shows itself most directly in the work on liberation theology, but still this is a perspective that is useful and helpful, and Allen adds important information that might not otherwise be accessible outside the more rarified world of professional theologians. For those who want deeper insight into the man who Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI is, this book is a worthwhile text, particularly if it is taken as one of several books that explore the pope's theology in more detail, and from different perspectives. As a stand-alone text, it presents Pope Benedict XVI in a less than sympathetic light theologically, so caution is advised in such a reading.

Even Handed Study of a Controvertial Figure:
John Allen is to be commended for his biography of Cardinal Ratzinger. It is difficult to write objectively about living, controvertial figures and even more so in the case of powerful religious figures. Emotions can run high, even to the boiling point. Some readers might expect a "hatchet job" of the Prefect of the CDF by a writer for the "National Catholic Reporter", which is a prominently liberal newspaper, but only someone blinded by partisanship could consider this carefully researched and written book to be anything but thoughtful and even handed. Allen read all of Ratzinger's works and many collateral books and conducted dozens of interviews in preparation for this study. He is at present NCR's resident editor in Rome. Allen is also an unusually well-read and well-informed practicing Catholic who genuinely tries to understand the points of view of his subjects. He raises difficult questions, as is his proper role, and, in my opinion, sometimes gives Ratzinger the benefit of the doubt when a sterner view would be justified but he provides a tremendous amount of valuable information and references so the reader can do his or her own research. This is the mark of a serious biographer and not a polemicist. John Allen's "Cardinal Ratzinger" is an important and scholarly contribution to our understanding of this powerful figure in the present-day Catholic hierarchy. It deserves to be read.

Don't read this book; wait for Allen's revised biography:
This book is quite unfair, as Allen himself has acknowledged. As his journalism has matured, Allen has intended to write a significantly reworked biography. He now has the chance, and it is in the works from Doubleday. Please wait for it! John Allen is now definitely the best Eenglish language journalist covering the Catholic Church, but this has been the case for only the last three or four years in my opinion. I would strongly recommend his recent work (e.g. All the Pope's Men), but this particular book is not worth a read. All that follows is a section from Allen's column of April 26, 2005: "Six years ago, I wrote a biography of the man who is now pope titled Cardinal Ratzinger: The Vatican's Enforcer of the Faith. In the intervening period, I have learned a few things about the universal Catholic church and how things look from different perspectives. If I were to write the book again today, I'm sure it would be more balanced, better informed, and less prone to veer off into judgment ahead of sober analysis. This, I want to stress, is not a Johnny-come-lately conclusion motivated by the fact that the subject of the book has now become the pope. In a lecture delivered at the Catholic University of America as part of the Common Ground series, on June 25, 2004, I said the following about the book: "My 'conversion' to dialogue originated in a sort of 'bottoming out.' It came with the publication of my biography of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, issued by Continuum in 2000 and titled The Vatican's Enforcer of the Faith. The first major review appeared in Commonweal, authored by another of my distinguished predecessors in this lecture series, Fr. Joseph Komonchak. It was not, let me be candid, a positive review. Fr. Komonchak pointed out a number of shortcomings and a few errors, but the line that truly stung came when he accused me of "Manichean journalism." He meant that I was locked in a dualistic mentality in which Ratzinger was consistently wrong and his critics consistently right. I was initially crushed, then furious. I re-read the book with Fr. Komonchak's criticism in mind, however, and reached the sobering conclusion that he was correct. The book - which I modestly believe is not without its merits - is nevertheless too often written in a "good guys and bad guys" style that vilifies the cardinal. It took Fr. Komonchak pointing this out, publicly and bluntly, for me to ask myself, 'Is this the kind of journalist I want to be'? My answer was no, and I hope that in the years since I have come to appreciate more of those shades of gray that Fr. Komonchak rightly insists are always part of the story. After Ratzinger's election as Benedict XVI was announced, I had hoped to have the opportunity to write a new preface for the book contextualizing some of the views it expresses. Unfortunately, the publisher in the United States, for reasons that I suppose are fairly obvious, had already begun reprinting the book without consulting me. Hence it is probably already appearing in bookstores, without any new material from me. I can't do anything about that, although the British publishers were kind enough to ask me to write a new preface, which I have already done, so at least the damage will be limited in the U.K. What is under my control, however, is a new book for Doubleday (a Random House imprint), which I hope will be a more balanced and mature account of both Ratzinger's views and the politics that made him pope. It has been in the works for some time and I hope it will be worthy of the enormity of the story, and the trust of those who elect to read it."

The paradoxes of the 2nd most powerful Catholic official:
Joseph Ratzinger, as Prefect (head) of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is essentially the Vatican's top 'heresy cop' and the most powerful Catholic official other than the Pope. Ratzinger began his career as a liberal theologian, and in 1968 abruptly became an ultraconservative, after Marxist protesters repeatedly invaded his classroom at a German university. Thus we have the paradox of the pre-1968 Ratzinger being diametrically opposed to the post-1968 Ratzinger, who has gone to great lengths to make Catholic doctrine more traditional and to eliminate dissent. This book is largely an analysis of Ratzinger's writings, which is a roundabout way of getting to know someone, and parts of it are rather dry reading. Readers may feel frustration that they are not really getting an intimate sense of what Ratzinger, the man, is like. Much of the book is devoted to tangents: We learn much about Nazi-Catholic relations, we trace the careers of Ratzinger's favorite students, and we are immersed in the teachings of theologians he has attacked. Those with an interest in the Vatican's inner workings might prefer "Conclave," by the same author, or "Inside the Vatican" by Thomas Reese, both of which are easier to digest. Despite its dry spells, this book does an excellent job of conveying the enormous gap between official Catholic doctrine versus what lay Catholics really believe. Ratzinger favors a return to the 1950s when the Mass was in Latin, divorce and birth control were unthinkable, and laypeople accepted official teaching out of blind obedience. Ratzinger believes that the Catholic church's purpose is not to see how many people it can attract, but rather to protect the integrity of its doctrine, even if this causes the pews to be empty in the short term. Many mainstream Catholic readers will be surprised at how Ratzinger has intentionally widened the gap between official Vatican doctrine and the beliefs of ordinary Catholics.

Good:
Well written, very kind on the Catholic Church unlike some authors. He did his research. However,missing a spirirtual veiw point of the Church and God's chosen Pope. Nevertheless, the author is fair and intends well.